New Deal Art in the Northwest: The WPA and Beyond

From December 1933 to February 1943, as part of a sprawling economic stimulus package, four federal programs hired artists to create public artworks and provide art-making opportunities to millions of Americans. When this initiative abruptly ended shortly after the US entry into World War II, information and artworks were lost or scattered, long obscuring the story of what had happened in the Northwest.

This groundbreaking volume (which accompanies an exhibition at the Tacoma Art Museum) offers the first comprehensive survey of the impact of federal arts projects in the Pacific Northwest. Revealing the striking scope and variety of New Deal regional work—paintings, prints, murals, ceramics, and textiles, and the iconic and influential Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood—this lavishly illustrated exploration will be invaluable to scholars and art lovers alike.

Exhibition dates: Tacoma Art Museum, February 22–August 16, 2020