Synopses & Reviews
Throughout the Great Recession American artists and public art endowments have had to fight for government support to keep themselves afloat. It wasnandrsquo;t always this way. At its height in 1935, the New Deal devoted $27 millionandmdash;roughly $469 million todayandmdash;to supporting tens of thousands of needy artists, who used that support to create more than 100,000 works. Why did the government become so involved with these artists, and why werenandrsquo;t these projects considered a frivolous waste of funds, as surely many would be today?
In Democratic Art, Sharon Musher explores these questions and uses them as a springboard for an examination of the role art can and should play in contemporary society. Drawing on close readings of government-funded architecture, murals, plays, writing, and photographs, Democratic Art examines the New Dealandrsquo;s diverse cultural initiatives and outlines five perspectives on art that were prominent at the time: art as grandeur, enrichment, weapon, experience, and subversion. Musher argues that those engaged in New Deal art were part of an explicitly cultural agenda that sought not just to create art but to democratize and Americanize it as well. By tracing a range of aesthetic visions that flourished during the 1930s, this highly original book outlines the successes, shortcomings, and lessons of the golden age of government funding for the arts.
Review
"Chicago had a big Republic Steel plant on the Southside. Memorial Day in 1937, the strikers had a picnic on those grounds. There was fried chicken, potato salad, women, kids, songs, baseball, and there was some cops there. . . . Someone threw a stone, and you know cops started shooting, shot ten guys in the back, and they killed those ten guys…. Heres where the Federal Theatre came in. Cradle Will Rock was about a steel strike. Cradle Will Rock was metaphorical, a pro-union play and was considered evolutionary and outrageous. So thats the kind of stuff we used to do."—Studs Terkel
Review
"I was in Macbeth. I played one of the witches. I also remember so many fights in the lobby about having people of black skin play Shakespearean shows. If it was a maids role go ahead, but if it was something like that from the classics. . . . Mr. Welles would raise hell if anybody was in the least nasty to me or tried to ignore me or tried to confuse me. Orson Welles was something else Im telling you."—Rosetta LeNoire
Review
"The Federal Theatre was a part of a movement in America to put people to work. Among the unemployed people, as well as mechanics and metal workers, were actors and artists. And this wonderful idea to put them to work in the cultural field was such a big moment for America—for education . . . for culture—that we still mourn the loss."—Jules Dassin
Review
"In the Depression, it was all but impossible for a Left writer not to think of the act of writing as a fulcrum for social change."—Arthur Miller
Review
"The miracle of the Federal Theatre lies precisely in this—that from a drab and painful relief project there sprang the liveliest, most innovative, and most original theatre of its era."—John Houseman
Review
andldquo;Musher offers clear, helpful, and persuasive ways for us to understand the arts by cutting through the thickets of programs, approaches, and personalities. The overall result is a book that illuminates significantly the complexities of the arts in the New Deal. She skillfully weaves the strands of the storiesandmdash;political, administrative, artisticandmdash;often relying on deft portraits of key players and fresh analyses of dramatic incidents. This is an impressive and important contribution to our understanding of the roles the arts haveandmdash;and couldandmdash;play in American culture.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;A compelling synthesis of federally funded cultural projects undertaken in the United States from 1933 to 1945, Musherandrsquo;s book is written for other historians but will certainly appeal to scholars in many fieldsandmdash;including American studies, cultural studies, public history, visual culture studies, and more. Eloquently written and historically balanced, the book uses anecdotal evidence and biography to animate the story of New Deal arts programming and notions of cultural capital in new and engaging ways.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;In this vibrant and informative account, Musher raises crucial questions. Does government funding for the arts curtail or expand freedom? Did the bold goals of New Deal artists, to expand democracy and enhance the nationandrsquo;s self image result in political radicalism? Musherandrsquo;s provocative intervention suggests that we all look again at the arts and public policy.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Democratic Art is a welcome addition to the historical record of the new Deal. All of us who seek to uphold the values and principles of the New Deal and have them applied in our own time owe Musher a debt of gratitude for her lucid and thorough contribution to our understanding of the New Deal arts programs.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Democratic Art creates a sort of New Deal art typologyandmdash;and thus provides an excellent framework for analysis. And it may also motivate you to take a second, closer look at that post office mural.andrdquo;
Synopsis
The Federal Theatre Project, a 1930s relief project of the Roosevelt administration, brought more theater to more people in every corner of America that at any time in U.S. history. The Project had units in every region of the country, including groundbreaking African American troupes, and staged productions from daring dramas like
The Voodoo Macbeth,
Waiting for Lefty, and
The Cradle Will Rock to musicals, vaudeville, and puppet shows. It was canceled in a firestorm of controversy that gave birth to the damning question: "Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist party?"
This book documents that vibrant, colorful, politically explosive time, which gave rise to bitter debates about the role of government in American art and culture. It includes interviews with such Federal Theatre actors, playwrights, directors, designers, producers, and dancers as Arthur Miller, Studs Terkel, Jules Dassin, Katherine Dunham, Rosetta Lenoire, John Houseman, and many others.
Voices from the Federal Theatre is a tie-in with the public televison special Who Killed the Federal Theatre? hosted by Judd Hirsch and coproduced by Schwartz with the Educational Film Center.
About the Author
Bonnie Nelson Schwartz is a producer for the Broadway stage, film and television. She has worked on more than 100 plays, films, television programs, and concert specials worldwide.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Abbreviations
Introduction: Art as a Function of Government
1. May the Artist Live?
2. Art as Grandeur
3. Art as Enrichment
4. Art as a Weapon
5. Art as Experience
6. Art as Subversion
Conclusion: A New Deal for the Arts?
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index