About
The Fireside Chat was one of several ways President Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke to Americans candidly about the state of the nation. Through radio networks across the country, he advocated for a solidarity that was reinforced by many other New Deal initiatives. And that included the Federal Art Project, whose more than 4,400 murals depicted farmers, factory workers, and even story time animals in shared actions. Theater programs and painting exhibitions aimed to inspire hope for a better future during a time of economic turmoil. Those initiatives were successful enough that pulling together through hard times still shapes how we envision the Great Depression.
The faces and poses of the figures in Stephen Ronay’s The Life Boat (1938) give us a snapshot of people facing a storm. In each figure we can see a different reaction: some acting decisively, some helping others, some falling into despair, and some visually melting into themselves. At least eighteen people thrown together, maybe more. Do they come together as a community, something better than the panicked crowd outside of a failed bank? Ronay doesn’t necessarily offer an easy answer, and the themes of community, isolation, and riding out a storm that emerge from The Life Boat can be seen across the other artworks curated in this online exhibit. Each offers a more idiosyncratic, personal vision than heavily vetted public murals.
For thousands of artists, the Federal Art Project was a lifeline at a time when many were drowning. The government recognized a need for nationwide financial stimulus and working opportunities, since millions were out of jobs, struggling to feed their families, and living in shantytowns--nicknamed Hoovervilles--that sprang up across America. Besides material privation the Great Depression created feelings of isolation, resulting in communities no longer being able to thrive. While a word like “trauma” is somewhat anachronous to the 1930s, it sensitizes us to paradoxical effects and the uncertainty of knowing how another person feels. These paintings and prints tell stories through the depiction of people’s facial expressions and gestures--along with light, weather, and season--expressing internal struggle in visual form, shaped by external turmoil often beyond their control.
Credits: Jasmine Buffone, Monica Hejaily, Timothy Hudson, Giavanna Lay, Caleb Secor, Savannah Wyatt-Saylor.