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Art at Work: Reframing Artists of the WPA

From September 1, 2026 to January 19, 2027

Location: Special Projects Gallery (Floor 2)

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Art at Work: Reframing Artists of the WPA explores how artists supported by the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) created scenes of everyday life that reflected the character and democratic ideals of the nation during the Great Depression. Bringing together forty prints and paintings created in communities throughout the United States, the exhibition highlights this ambitious national civic effort that brought art to the masses at a time of economic upheaval and looming war.

colorful woodblock print

Cliffa Corson (1907-2002), Oil Refinery Worker, c. 1935-1945, woodcut on paper, 7 x 8 in. Gift of Dr. Marianne Woods in memory of Kenneth Woods. 2021.1.16

orange woodblock print

Mara Malliczky Schroetter (1893-1973), Sawing the Log, c.1935-1945, woodcut on paper, 4 ¾ x 7 in. Gift of Dr. Marianne Woods in memory of Kenneth Woods. 2021.1.11

The Works Progress Administration was a work-relief program established under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal that employed thousands of visual artists from 1935 to 1943. Drawn from The Rockwell Museum’s collection and augmented by significant loans, Art at Work features works by both notable and lesser-known artists, including Thomas Hart Benton, Douglass Crockwell, Philip Evergood, Michael Gallagher, Riva Helfond, Gene Kloss, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Reginald Marsh, Elizabeth Olds, and Dox Thrash.

Divided into three sections devoted to the dignity of labor, regional landscapes and community life, and government patronage, the works on view vividly demonstrate how art functioned as both a civic resource and a reflection of American resilience. The Museum will present, through its Smithsonian Affiliate status, a major loan from the Smithsonian American Art Museum: a mural study by William Gropper for the Department of the Interior building in Washington, D.C., representing one of the many large-scale infrastructure projects undertaken by the federal government during this period.

Organized in recognition of the nation’s 250th anniversary and in support of the Museum’s 50th anniversary theme, Rockwell Reframed, the exhibition reframes WPA art as a far-reaching cultural undertaking that continues to resonate with audiences today. Art at Work celebrates not only the art workers of the WPA but also embodies the enduring values of The Rockwell Museum, as an institution deeply committed to uplifting the communities it has served for the past fifty years.