92 10 1402 https://openvalley.org/files/original/cfab7509ac359020ccf4dd84e6a8aeef.jpg f6243c0d8e6f04411a7a3851d844375f https://openvalley.org/files/original/7705a7745123cb7da8504634db70c85e.jpg 1110f16b3c0d193c0a230f523fa8f766 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource New Deal Gallery Description An account of the resource This collection of more than 200 paintings owes its existence to two primary causes: allocations from the Federal Art Project to a New York state tuberculosis sanatorium located at Mt. Morris--the landscapes and still lifes were thought to be restful--and to the committed volunteers who helped preserve the paintings after the hospital closed. For several decades the canvases were stored in non-climate-controlled basements; it appears that doctors and staff removed at least three dozen works as "keepsakes." Despite the seeming tranquility of the paintings, they were created by artists primarily from New York City whose background was more political and aesthetically adventurous than this rural location would indicate. <a href="https://openvalley.org/exhibits/show/green-new-deal/about" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Follow this hyperlink to a short introduction to the New Deal Gallery collection</a>. We're grateful to the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts for access to their collection, which has been re-photographed and appears here at two resolutions: a cropped, web-friendly file size of around 1 MB; and a high-resolution file including the painting's frame. Items in this collection were created according to a consistent format: a short description of each painting in formal terms, followed by a biography of each artist. Where possible we have supplied hyperlinks relevant to their lives and to other examples of their art. In order to better view them using the Omeka program, click on the "View All" option at the bottom of this page to access various sorting options. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1935-1940 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Cooper, Ken (project director) Ritz, Abigail (photography and project assistant) Additional research: Justin Anderson, Jessica Apthorpe, Jay Bang, Kristopher Bangsil, Julia Caldwell, Sydney Cannioto, Sabrina Chan, Paige Closser, Victoria Domon, Elana Evenden, Yadelin Fernandez, Michael Griffin, Madison Jackson, Niamh McCrohan, Ben Michalak, Ricky Noel, Elizabeth Ramsay, Skye Rose, Samantha Schmeer, John Serbalik, Marianna Sheedy, Emily Spina, Alison Stern, Ravenna VanOstrand, and Nicholas Vanamee. Special thanks to: Deborah Bump, Mark Calicchia, Elizabeth Harris, Melissa Moody, Rebecca Lomuto, and Mai Sato. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Tree Surgeons Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg, 1.5 MB jpeg, 1.1 MB Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Warsager, Hyman J. (1909 - 1974) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Federal Art Project Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource c. 1935 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Helquist, Morgan (photography) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived New Deal Museum, Mount Morris NY Object #FA 1540 Description An account of the resource 14 images at <a href="https://art.gsa.gov/people/2638/hyman-j-warsager/objects" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GSA</a>. https://openvalley.org/files/original/f2faec846f36488822c3b6c8d214332b.jpg 5b37db64a1e84c9717c30c89149c42c0 https://openvalley.org/files/original/4e14dd77f51e2938a3b5234a53840aef.jpg 7f0e8670c66fbccc9e2f7f59967692c4 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as photograph, map, drawing, painting, etc., and any additional data Stereograph Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 6 in. x 2.5 in. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource In the Gorge at Lower Fall, Letchworth State Park Description An account of the resource A stereoview card featuring the Lower Falls in the gorge at Letchworth State Park, New York. On front of card: Western New York Scenery. 289 In the Gorge at Lower Fall. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Washburn, G.L. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Unknown Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Rounding, Jessica Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Letchworth State Park, Visitors Center, accession number LE.2005.648. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Front - jpeg, 933 KB Back - jpeg, 975 KB Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Castile, New York: Washburn, G.L. Type The nature or genre of the resource Still Image Castile Genesee River Letchworth State Park New York Mt. Morris, NY https://openvalley.org/files/original/e655f21b24ae3df110cb2fe8851dd332.jpg 55f003d147ad924d89b14a54167220fe Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as photograph, map, drawing, painting, etc., and any additional data Printed engraving Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Sugar Harvest in Louisiana Description An account of the resource A probably condensed engraving that shows, in a single vista, the cutting of sugar cane at right with an overseer on horseback, which is then carted to an enormous sugar mill--costing an estimated $10 million dollars each in current dollars. While a 1875 publication places the illustration after the Civil War, still there is an uneasy sense of nostalgia for the grand scale of the operation: "Night and day the work of crushing goes on; great columns of smoke rise from the chimneys and join the billowy clouds that roll up from the Gulf of Mexico. The beautiful, darkly green fields of cane disappear, till from the river to the dense swamps that back the plantation all is clear. The planter breathes more freely, the hands have easier times, and the overworked mules are turned loose." Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Waud, A. R. (1828-1891) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Harper's Weekly Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1875-10-30 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Cooper, Ken Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015030616422&view=1up&seq=824" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Courtesy of HathiTrust</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg, 2.6 MB Type The nature or genre of the resource Still image Agriculture plantation Slavery sugar https://openvalley.org/files/original/c77117a9b69f9acef83317a0ce395adf.jpg 77b4d1f21005d20e79941443a96e6011 https://openvalley.org/files/original/b4b93b960446e6e6c1467823420b1f55.jpg 74198af444af84c6b9ac580a9ff995ca https://openvalley.org/files/original/e534517c185c378628fffca9368f46ed.jpg da0a3304b98f200a5b1f09709afebfc0 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as photograph, map, drawing, painting, etc., and any additional data Photograph Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Moosehead Description An account of the resource A handcarved moosehead that is stained and varnished. This piece of art represents a lot of things for the Algonquin tribe. Moose were hunted and used for food, hide, and fur but the artwork is to honor the animals life and the exchange that nature makes for human life. Woodworking is also passed down through family lines. Three photos show a sculpture whose location now is unknown, save for <a href="https://openvalley.org/items/show/1992" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a small piece of wood on one of the antlers</a>. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Wawatie, Jacob (1956-2016) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Geneseo Migrant Center Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1990-1991 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Dignan, Cecilia Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg, 642 KB jpeg, 635 KB jpeg, 601 KB Type The nature or genre of the resource Still Image Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Creative Artists Migrant Program Services collection, Genesee Valley Council on the Arts Algonquin art BOCES Exhibition Geneseo Migrant Center woodwork https://openvalley.org/files/original/ac1c8d2e4f39886bf344074b561704b5.JPG 91053b9693560d0387da3f89b5193f70 https://openvalley.org/files/original/b4923f7a053c137af3e3c28fc3b66b5c.JPG 0f1b24c40520e731be1593f491c9c56f https://openvalley.org/files/original/9355920864d6de60a90e9536f1c7c007.JPG 2914674a74c56ebdd97c79adfba931de Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as photograph, map, drawing, painting, etc., and any additional data Digital photograph of carved wood Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Piece of wood Description An account of the resource An oddly shaped piece of wood that was once connected to a well-carved wooden moose head. It is varnished and stained pine with a rusty nail sticking out of it. This piece of wood led to the discovery of its creator Jacob Wawatie (1956-2016), who was an Algonquin educator in Canada. Three views of the objects are included. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Wawatie, Jacob (sculptor) Dignan, Cecilia (photograph) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Geneseo Migrant Center Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2023-11-15 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Dignan, Cecilia Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg, 534 KB jpeg, 470 KB jpeg, 471 KB Type The nature or genre of the resource Still image Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Creative Artists Migrant Program Services collection, Genesee Valley Council on the Arts Algonquin Canada Geneseo Migrant Center Jacob Wawatie https://openvalley.org/files/original/f1d52f98a921d7c02df5cdcaefb99328.JPG 70afb96da22205834e6a29dc699300e1 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource New Deal Gallery Description An account of the resource This collection of more than 200 paintings owes its existence to two primary causes: allocations from the Federal Art Project to a New York state tuberculosis sanatorium located at Mt. Morris--the landscapes and still lifes were thought to be restful--and to the committed volunteers who helped preserve the paintings after the hospital closed. For several decades the canvases were stored in non-climate-controlled basements; it appears that doctors and staff removed at least three dozen works as "keepsakes." Despite the seeming tranquility of the paintings, they were created by artists primarily from New York City whose background was more political and aesthetically adventurous than this rural location would indicate. <a href="https://openvalley.org/exhibits/show/green-new-deal/about" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Follow this hyperlink to a short introduction to the New Deal Gallery collection</a>. We're grateful to the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts for access to their collection, which has been re-photographed and appears here at two resolutions: a cropped, web-friendly file size of around 1 MB; and a high-resolution file including the painting's frame. Items in this collection were created according to a consistent format: a short description of each painting in formal terms, followed by a biography of each artist. Where possible we have supplied hyperlinks relevant to their lives and to other examples of their art. In order to better view them using the Omeka program, click on the "View All" option at the bottom of this page to access various sorting options. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1935-1940 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Cooper, Ken (project director) Ritz, Abigail (photography and project assistant) Additional research: Justin Anderson, Jessica Apthorpe, Jay Bang, Kristopher Bangsil, Julia Caldwell, Sydney Cannioto, Sabrina Chan, Paige Closser, Victoria Domon, Elana Evenden, Yadelin Fernandez, Michael Griffin, Madison Jackson, Niamh McCrohan, Ben Michalak, Ricky Noel, Elizabeth Ramsay, Skye Rose, Samantha Schmeer, John Serbalik, Marianna Sheedy, Emily Spina, Alison Stern, Ravenna VanOstrand, and Nicholas Vanamee. Special thanks to: Deborah Bump, Mark Calicchia, Elizabeth Harris, Melissa Moody, Rebecca Lomuto, and Mai Sato. Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as photograph, map, drawing, painting, etc., and any additional data Oil Painting Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 24 x 30 in. Condition: tack marks, surface dirt, flaking paint Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Girl with Tulips Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Wein, Elsie, (b. 1898?) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Federal Art Project Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1935-1940 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Ritz, Abigail (photography) Anderson, Justin (biography) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived New Deal Gallery, Genesee Valley Council on the Arts Object #FA18365 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg, 1.3 MB Type The nature or genre of the resource Still Image Description An account of the resource A pale-skinned young woman with blue eyes and brown hair, wearing a blue day dress, lifts a single red tulip stem from a vase of five red tulips. Mirroring the dark brown background, a round, wooden table is the stable platform for the two-handled white vase which holds the tulips. The woman's thoughtful stare evokes a dreamlike sense of nostalgia. About the Artist: We haven't located much reliable information about this artist. Elsie Wein may have immigrated to the United States from Hungary. Some records indicate that during the 1920s she may have lived in Baltimore, MD and showed her paintings there. There also is an intriguing reference to a WBNY radio program, “Art Talk,” with an Elsie Wein as its host during the late 1920s and early ‘30s. In any event, a painter of this name worked for the WPA in at least two programs. 9 more works at the <a href="https://www.nga.gov/global-site-search-page.html?searchterm=elsie+wein" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Index of American Design</a>. 3 more images at <a href="https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/federal-art-project-photographic-division-collection-5467/series-1/box-23-folder-48" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FAP</a>. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 193 Elsie Wein Federal Art Project flowers New Deal Gallery painting https://openvalley.org/files/original/5de1c225808b362a8970e3b04c1aba0b.jpg 49f45be47ba23d9bc8ee2b80724f6622 https://openvalley.org/files/original/62feed3e8e1671e46871a6a0a1bc3340.jpg 824bb1407403829bb68a315cd0e777fb Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource New Deal Gallery Description An account of the resource This collection of more than 200 paintings owes its existence to two primary causes: allocations from the Federal Art Project to a New York state tuberculosis sanatorium located at Mt. Morris--the landscapes and still lifes were thought to be restful--and to the committed volunteers who helped preserve the paintings after the hospital closed. For several decades the canvases were stored in non-climate-controlled basements; it appears that doctors and staff removed at least three dozen works as "keepsakes." Despite the seeming tranquility of the paintings, they were created by artists primarily from New York City whose background was more political and aesthetically adventurous than this rural location would indicate. <a href="https://openvalley.org/exhibits/show/green-new-deal/about" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Follow this hyperlink to a short introduction to the New Deal Gallery collection</a>. We're grateful to the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts for access to their collection, which has been re-photographed and appears here at two resolutions: a cropped, web-friendly file size of around 1 MB; and a high-resolution file including the painting's frame. Items in this collection were created according to a consistent format: a short description of each painting in formal terms, followed by a biography of each artist. Where possible we have supplied hyperlinks relevant to their lives and to other examples of their art. In order to better view them using the Omeka program, click on the "View All" option at the bottom of this page to access various sorting options. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1935-1940 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Cooper, Ken (project director) Ritz, Abigail (photography and project assistant) Additional research: Justin Anderson, Jessica Apthorpe, Jay Bang, Kristopher Bangsil, Julia Caldwell, Sydney Cannioto, Sabrina Chan, Paige Closser, Victoria Domon, Elana Evenden, Yadelin Fernandez, Michael Griffin, Madison Jackson, Niamh McCrohan, Ben Michalak, Ricky Noel, Elizabeth Ramsay, Skye Rose, Samantha Schmeer, John Serbalik, Marianna Sheedy, Emily Spina, Alison Stern, Ravenna VanOstrand, and Nicholas Vanamee. Special thanks to: Deborah Bump, Mark Calicchia, Elizabeth Harris, Melissa Moody, Rebecca Lomuto, and Mai Sato. Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as photograph, map, drawing, painting, etc., and any additional data Lithograph on paper Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 15 1/2 x 11 1/2 in. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource River Front Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg, 1.7 MB jpeg, 843 KB Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Weiner, Isadore (1910 - ?) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Federal Art Project Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1938 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Cooper, Ken (description and biography) Helquist, Morgan (photography) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived New Deal Museum, Mount Morris NY Object #FA 1553 Type The nature or genre of the resource Still image Description An account of the resource Harshly contrasting light values depict a factory of some kind, comprised of buildings, machinery, smokestacks, and mounds of an unidentifiable substance. The black & white lithograph’s upper third is framed by billowing smoke, the bottom portion by raw materials and the plant creating all the pollution. In the center is another, brightly lit pile of raw materials and seemingly our only glimpse outside of the factory. Weiner’s title is darkly ironic, for there’s no river to be seen... just this and other factories depending upon the waterway for transportation. The artist also created other visions of Great Lakes industry with sharply different tones, like his colorful <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artworks/126966/spring-and-industry">Spring and Industry</a> (1939). About the Artist There is conflicting information about the life of this Federal Art Project lithographer. It’s agreed that he was born 1910 in Chicago, studied at the Art Institute in that city, and shared studio space with fellow lithographers <a href="https://www.artic.edu/collection?artist_ids=Max+Kahn">Max Kahn</a>, <a href="https://americanart.si.edu/search/artworks?content_type=artwork&persons%5b%5d=6108">Misch Kohn</a>, and <a href="https://www.artic.edu/collection?artist_ids=Eleanor+Coen">Eleanor Coen</a>—a less structured arrangement than the centralized Graphic Arts Division in New York City. Carl Zigrosser suggests that “most of the graphic work was apprentice work, that is to say, steps toward the mastery of technique and méitier,” although to be kinder the group was very experimental and ambitious. His work appeared at group shows in the city (<a href="https://archive.org/details/per_chicago-daily-tribune_1938-06-16_97_143/page/n15/mode/1up?q=%22isadore+weiner%22">1</a>, <a href="https://archive.org/details/sim_artnews_1940-03-23_38_25/page/n12/mode/1up?q=%22isadore+weiner%22">2</a>, <a href="https://archive.org/details/per_chicago-daily-tribune_1941-03-02_100_9/page/n101/mode/1up?q=%22isadore+weiner%22">3</a>), and at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York (Jewell). At this point the narrative diverges. <a href="https://archive.org/details/whowaswhoinameri0003unse/page/3501/mode/1up">Who Was Who in American Art</a> holds that Weiner “committed suicide after 1940, perhaps in Chicago” and the Metropolitan Museum of Art still gives his life dates as 1910-1940. Most other institutions, however, have Weiner relocating to California until his death in 1964. If so, then a household under that name and his wife, Grace, were living in Burbank as of 1950 (US Census). That Isadore Weiner gave his occupation as freelance artist and packaging designer—still adjacent to lithography, but perhaps in a more commercial vein. The problem with this supposition is that of an apparent father living next door with a different name than Chicago census records. It seems safest to state only that Weiner was born in Chicago, and produced challenging lithographs for the Federal Art Project. 21 works at <a href="https://www.artic.edu/collection?artist_ids=Isadore+Weiner">Art Institute of Chicago</a>. 8 works at <a href="https://americanart.si.edu/search/artworks?content_type=artwork&persons%5b%5d=6108">Smithsonian American Art Museum</a>. 9 works at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 5 images at <a href="https://art.gsa.gov/people/2645/isadore-weiner/objects" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GSA</a>. Works Consulted: Carl Zigrosser, Misch Kohn (American Federation of Arts, 1961) <a href="https://archive.org/details/mischkohn0000carl/mode/1up">Link</a>; Peter Hastings Falk, ed. Who Was Who in American Art, 1564-1974, vol. 3 (Sound View, 1999): 3501; 1950 US Census for Burbank, Los Angeles Co., California d.E.D. #62-79 <a href="https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/62146189?mark=7b22746f6b656e223a226378486c684d6f6679747a695a6f554e53357643385836716a714d6d3936785a6a4b627765486f762f55773d222c22746f6b656e5f76657273696f6e223a225632227d">Link</a>; Edward Alden Jewell, “American Art at the World’s Fair,” New York Times 26 May 1940: 149 <a href="https://nyti.ms/4a73H0H">Link</a>. Federal Arts Project industrialization Isadore Weiner lithograph New Deal Museum https://openvalley.org/files/original/68409ae3ea632f36924d9bd66b5029f4.jpg 87c8b532522d7d1a85d5f605c6442879 https://openvalley.org/files/original/a0655f04edb1c502cd03811d653f2575.jpg 4062e5fe89aa2f2937827ec04856f246 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource New Deal Gallery Description An account of the resource This collection of more than 200 paintings owes its existence to two primary causes: allocations from the Federal Art Project to a New York state tuberculosis sanatorium located at Mt. Morris--the landscapes and still lifes were thought to be restful--and to the committed volunteers who helped preserve the paintings after the hospital closed. For several decades the canvases were stored in non-climate-controlled basements; it appears that doctors and staff removed at least three dozen works as "keepsakes." Despite the seeming tranquility of the paintings, they were created by artists primarily from New York City whose background was more political and aesthetically adventurous than this rural location would indicate. <a href="https://openvalley.org/exhibits/show/green-new-deal/about" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Follow this hyperlink to a short introduction to the New Deal Gallery collection</a>. We're grateful to the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts for access to their collection, which has been re-photographed and appears here at two resolutions: a cropped, web-friendly file size of around 1 MB; and a high-resolution file including the painting's frame. Items in this collection were created according to a consistent format: a short description of each painting in formal terms, followed by a biography of each artist. Where possible we have supplied hyperlinks relevant to their lives and to other examples of their art. In order to better view them using the Omeka program, click on the "View All" option at the bottom of this page to access various sorting options. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1935-1940 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Cooper, Ken (project director) Ritz, Abigail (photography and project assistant) Additional research: Justin Anderson, Jessica Apthorpe, Jay Bang, Kristopher Bangsil, Julia Caldwell, Sydney Cannioto, Sabrina Chan, Paige Closser, Victoria Domon, Elana Evenden, Yadelin Fernandez, Michael Griffin, Madison Jackson, Niamh McCrohan, Ben Michalak, Ricky Noel, Elizabeth Ramsay, Skye Rose, Samantha Schmeer, John Serbalik, Marianna Sheedy, Emily Spina, Alison Stern, Ravenna VanOstrand, and Nicholas Vanamee. Special thanks to: Deborah Bump, Mark Calicchia, Elizabeth Harris, Melissa Moody, Rebecca Lomuto, and Mai Sato. Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as photograph, map, drawing, painting, etc., and any additional data Wood engraving print Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 7 7/8 x 5 7/8 in. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Fields in Spring Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Weissbuch, Oscar (1904-1948) Description An account of the resource From an elevated perspective we look into a pleasingly enclosed, bowl-shaped valley; agricultural plantings emphasize the land’s underlaying contours. An arboreal line runs diagonally across the property. In the middle ground, a small house and attached shed is tucked into one cluster of trees, that of a presumed farmer returning home. Weissbuch’s curvilinear composition is extended to mountains in the distance and a sky full of clouds. In this and other prints Weissbuch seems to illustrate the “American Scene” of regional artists of the 1930s, some of whom “chose to focus on rural subject matter, preferring images of the countryside and scenes that depicted a simpler side of life” (Viso). “Fields in Spring” was honored at the 12th Annual Exhibition for American Graphic Artists, Philadelphia, in 1938. An appreciative reviewer praised its “expert differentiation of varied qualities of earth and foliage,” which again might be taken to reference the print’s rural setting (Lewis). But he also was praising the woodcut’s variety of pattern for its own sake—at least a dozen different recurring ones to be observed. Weissbuch’s later <a href="https://munson.emuseum.com/objects/1932/backyard-in-summer?ctx=4715703bae747f0b36f946b02d2517711b4029c3&idx=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“Backyard in Summer”</a> (1942) suggests that, many years earlier, the artist was intrigued by tensions between representation and underlying forms. About the Artist The son of Romanian immigrants, Weissbuch grew up in Brooklyn and already was working at a hat factory by the age of fifteen. Weissbuch studied at the Yale University School of Fine Arts, the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design, and the Art Students League (where he likely encountered the influential abstractionist Hans Hoffman). Beginning in 1934, Weissbuch worked on various WPA programs for seven years (Public Works of Art Project, Temporary Emergency Relief Administration, Federal Art Project), altogether producing 23 recorded prints. His works were widely exhibited in New York (including MoMA, the Brooklyn Museum, and Albright-Knox Museum), along with traveling shows to California, England, and Scandinavia. Weissbuch also became an important mentor within the Graphic Arts Division. For a short time he was appointed its supervisor, and along with his predecessors was “liked and respected by the artists. They showed sympathy and understanding and stood up for the artists under the pressures of the Project administration, which in turn was under political pressure” (Kainen 170). One such pressure by the late 1930s was a call for graphic works supporting European Allies and military preparation, rather than landscapes or social criticism. Late in 1941, Weissbuch began teaching at the newly established <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munson-Williams-Proctor_Arts_Institute" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Utica Art School</a>, created by the Munson – Williams – Proctor Arts Institute. Its egalitarian mission announced that faculty, “when executing their own professional work, will welcome students and the general public who may thus observe their methods in practice” (Art Digest 1 Dec. 1941: 29). Alongside American art generally, Weissbuch’s work during the 1940s moved in a direction of increasing abstraction—for example, <a href="https://munson.emuseum.com/objects/1932/backyard-in-summer?ctx=4715703bae747f0b36f946b02d2517711b4029c3&idx=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“Backyard in Summer”</a> (1942) and <a href="https://munson.emuseum.com/objects/10524/rooftops-no-1?ctx=4715703bae747f0b36f946b02d2517711b4029c3&idx=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“Rooftops, No. 1”</a> (1943)—and then fully embraced it by the end of his life in works like <a href="https://munson.emuseum.com/objects/1057/sea-motif?ctx=4715703bae747f0b36f946b02d2517711b4029c3&idx=2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“Sea Motif”</a> (1948). Given Weissbuch’s fascination with motific patterns and textures seen in FAP prints of the 1930s, though, perhaps abstraction makes sense as a latent potential within his earlier work. He was a brief, but meaningful influence upon the Pop artist Robert Indiana, who took classes at the Utica Art School while stationed near there in the amy (Ryan 271). But it seems there had been many other apprentices taught by Weissbuch along the way. 18 works at the <a href="https://www.philamuseum.org/collection?artist=Oscar%20Weissbuch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Philadelphia Museum of Art</a>. 2 works at the <a href="https://www.nga.gov/artists/34125-oscar-weissbuch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Gallery of Art</a>. 2 works at the <a href="https://americanart.si.edu/artist/oscar-weissbuch-5309" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Smithsonian American Art Museum</a>. 4 works at <a href="https://munson.emuseum.com/search/Weissbuch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Munson Museum</a>. 1 work at the <a href="https://digital.wolfsonian.org/node/67534?search_api_fulltext=weissbuch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wolfsonian-FIU</a>. 4 versions of “Gypsy Fortune Teller,” illustrating stages of the woodcut printing process, at <a href="https://dac-collection.wesleyan.edu/artist-maker/info/38000" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wesleyan University Davison Art Collection</a>. 5 images at <a href="https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/federal-art-project-photographic-division-collection-5467/series-1/box-23-folder-54" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FAP</a>. 16 images at <a href="https://art.gsa.gov/search/weissbuch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GSA</a>. Works Consulted: Olga M. Viso, “The Golden Age of American Printmaking, 1900-1950”  (1994), courtesy TFAO <a href="https://www.tfaoi.org/aa/9aa/9aa175.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Link</a>; Edward Lewis, “3 Shows Open at Print Club,” Philadelphia Inquirer 27 Mar. 1938: 16; Jacob Kainen, “The Graphic Arts Division of the WPA Federal Arts Project,” in The New Deal Art Projects: An Anthology of Memoirs, ed. Francis V. O’Connor (1972) <a href="https://archive.org/details/newdealartprojec0000unse_m0q7/page/154/mode/1up" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Link</a>; Susan Elizabeth Ryan, Robert Indiana: Figures of Speech (2000); Peter Hastings Falk, ed., Who Was Who in American Art (1999) <a href="https://archive.org/details/whowaswhoinameri0003unse/page/3507/mode/1up" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Link</a> Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Cooper, Ken (description & biography) Helquist, Morgan (photography) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg, 1.5 MB jpeg, 1.6 MB Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Federal Art Project Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource ca. 1935 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived New Deal Museum, Mt. Morris Object #FA 1566 Type The nature or genre of the resource Still image Federal Art Project Landscape Art New Deal Museum Oscar Weissbuch woodcut https://openvalley.org/files/original/9a0a4290d4c95ffb8c130cc233d7a4ca.jpg 3ef4e6f559c1db812e61ac723d67c6c6 https://openvalley.org/files/original/35a972bf20af6fff4715c68b5d188279.jpg 703485651b3ec708031495ef16cd84d5 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource New Deal Gallery Description An account of the resource This collection of more than 200 paintings owes its existence to two primary causes: allocations from the Federal Art Project to a New York state tuberculosis sanatorium located at Mt. Morris--the landscapes and still lifes were thought to be restful--and to the committed volunteers who helped preserve the paintings after the hospital closed. For several decades the canvases were stored in non-climate-controlled basements; it appears that doctors and staff removed at least three dozen works as "keepsakes." Despite the seeming tranquility of the paintings, they were created by artists primarily from New York City whose background was more political and aesthetically adventurous than this rural location would indicate. <a href="https://openvalley.org/exhibits/show/green-new-deal/about" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Follow this hyperlink to a short introduction to the New Deal Gallery collection</a>. We're grateful to the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts for access to their collection, which has been re-photographed and appears here at two resolutions: a cropped, web-friendly file size of around 1 MB; and a high-resolution file including the painting's frame. Items in this collection were created according to a consistent format: a short description of each painting in formal terms, followed by a biography of each artist. Where possible we have supplied hyperlinks relevant to their lives and to other examples of their art. In order to better view them using the Omeka program, click on the "View All" option at the bottom of this page to access various sorting options. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1935-1940 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Cooper, Ken (project director) Ritz, Abigail (photography and project assistant) Additional research: Justin Anderson, Jessica Apthorpe, Jay Bang, Kristopher Bangsil, Julia Caldwell, Sydney Cannioto, Sabrina Chan, Paige Closser, Victoria Domon, Elana Evenden, Yadelin Fernandez, Michael Griffin, Madison Jackson, Niamh McCrohan, Ben Michalak, Ricky Noel, Elizabeth Ramsay, Skye Rose, Samantha Schmeer, John Serbalik, Marianna Sheedy, Emily Spina, Alison Stern, Ravenna VanOstrand, and Nicholas Vanamee. Special thanks to: Deborah Bump, Mark Calicchia, Elizabeth Harris, Melissa Moody, Rebecca Lomuto, and Mai Sato. Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as photograph, map, drawing, painting, etc., and any additional data Etching on paper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Old Shed Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg, 1.8 MB jpeg, 1.2 MB Description An account of the resource At first glance, everything about Weissbuch's etching indicates rural squalor and decline. Fallen tree limbs and roughly cut stumps are scattered across the composition; even standing trees seem to be in a state of decay. The shed itself has been constructed of bricks and roughly cut limbs for its roof joists. Only a man tucked into the frame at far right shows that the structure still is in active use. For all of that, however, it still looks sturdy and tucked into the side of this hill. Weissbuch uses darker, denser lines to portray the foreground, which is set against a conventionally picturesque valley in the background, delineated with a few lighter strokes to indicate a fence and farm- or pastureland. One implication is that a close-up visit to any location in this rural area will provide a similarly unrefined view: the reality of rural America exceeds pastoral fantasies or squalid ruins. About the Artist The son of Romanian immigrants, Weissbuch grew up in Brooklyn and already was working at a hat factory by the age of fifteen. Weissbuch studied at the Yale University School of Fine Arts, the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design, and the Art Students League (where he likely encountered the influential abstractionist Hans Hoffman). Beginning in 1934, Weissbuch worked on various WPA programs for seven years (Public Works of Art Project, Temporary Emergency Relief Administration, Federal Art Project), altogether producing 23 recorded prints. His works were widely exhibited in New York (including MoMA, the Brooklyn Museum, and Albright-Knox Museum), along with traveling shows to California, England, and Scandinavia. Weissbuch also became an important mentor within the Graphic Arts Division. For a short time he was appointed its supervisor, and along with his predecessors was “liked and respected by the artists. They showed sympathy and understanding and stood up for the artists under the pressures of the Project administration, which in turn was under political pressure” (Kainen 170). One such pressure by the late 1930s was a call for graphic works supporting European Allies and military preparation, rather than landscapes or social criticism. Late in 1941, Weissbuch began teaching at the newly established <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munson-Williams-Proctor_Arts_Institute" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Utica Art School</a>, created by the Munson – Williams – Proctor Arts Institute. Its egalitarian mission announced that faculty, “when executing their own professional work, will welcome students and the general public who may thus observe their methods in practice” (Art Digest 1 Dec. 1941: 29). Alongside American art generally, Weissbuch’s work during the 1940s moved in a direction of increasing abstraction—for example, <a href="https://munson.emuseum.com/objects/1932/backyard-in-summer?ctx=4715703bae747f0b36f946b02d2517711b4029c3&idx=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“Backyard in Summer”</a> (1942) and <a href="https://munson.emuseum.com/objects/10524/rooftops-no-1?ctx=4715703bae747f0b36f946b02d2517711b4029c3&idx=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“Rooftops, No. 1”</a> (1943)—and then fully embraced it by the end of his life in works like <a href="https://munson.emuseum.com/objects/1057/sea-motif?ctx=4715703bae747f0b36f946b02d2517711b4029c3&idx=2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“Sea Motif”</a> (1948). Given Weissbuch’s fascination with motific patterns and textures seen in FAP prints of the 1930s, though, perhaps abstraction makes sense as a latent potential within his earlier work. He was a brief, but meaningful influence upon the Pop artist Robert Indiana, who took classes at the Utica Art School while stationed near there in the amy (Ryan 271). But it seems there had been many other apprentices taught by Weissbuch along the way. 18 works at the <a href="https://www.philamuseum.org/collection?artist=Oscar%20Weissbuch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Philadelphia Museum of Art</a>. 2 works at the <a href="https://www.nga.gov/artists/34125-oscar-weissbuch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Gallery of Art</a>. 2 works at the <a href="https://americanart.si.edu/artist/oscar-weissbuch-5309" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Smithsonian American Art Museum</a>. 4 works at <a href="https://munson.emuseum.com/search/Weissbuch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Munson Museum</a>. 1 work at the <a href="https://digital.wolfsonian.org/node/67534?search_api_fulltext=weissbuch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wolfsonian-FIU</a>. 4 versions of “Gypsy Fortune Teller,” illustrating stages of the woodcut printing process, at <a href="https://dac-collection.wesleyan.edu/artist-maker/info/38000" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wesleyan University Davison Art Collection</a>. 5 images at <a href="https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/federal-art-project-photographic-division-collection-5467/series-1/box-23-folder-54" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FAP</a>. 16 images at <a href="https://art.gsa.gov/search/weissbuch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GSA</a>. Works Consulted: Olga M. Viso, “The Golden Age of American Printmaking, 1900-1950”  (1994), courtesy TFAO <a href="https://www.tfaoi.org/aa/9aa/9aa175.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Link</a>; Edward Lewis, “3 Shows Open at Print Club,” Philadelphia Inquirer 27 Mar. 1938: 16; Jacob Kainen, “The Graphic Arts Division of the WPA Federal Arts Project,” in The New Deal Art Projects: An Anthology of Memoirs, ed. Francis V. O’Connor (1972) <a href="https://archive.org/details/newdealartprojec0000unse_m0q7/page/154/mode/1up" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Link</a>; Susan Elizabeth Ryan, Robert Indiana: Figures of Speech (2000); Peter Hastings Falk, ed., Who Was Who in American Art (1999) <a href="https://archive.org/details/whowaswhoinameri0003unse/page/3507/mode/1up" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Link</a> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Weissbuch, Oscar (1904-1948) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Federal Art Project Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1935-1942 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Cooper, Ken (description and biography) Helquist, Morgan (photography) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived New Deal Museum, Mount Morris NY Object #FA 27776 Etching Federal Art Project New Deal Museum Oscar Weissbuch rural Squalor https://openvalley.org/files/original/454c1770aae172e6d3aa1a11cab525c2.jpg 1cd791a1f1e811fece8fd0f04267b073 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as photograph, map, drawing, painting, etc., and any additional data Map Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 6 x 8 in. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Ramapo "In Ye Olden Times" Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Welcke, Robert A. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available J. B. Beers & Co. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1884 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Cooper, Ken Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg, 511 KB Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived David Cole, <a href="https://archive.org/details/historyofrocklan00cole/page/103">History of Rockland County, New York : With Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men</a> (J.B. Beers, 1884): 273. Type The nature or genre of the resource Map Description An account of the resource Dating to a time when water power was essential to manufacturing, the "Ramapo Works" (later simply Ramapo) were located at the base of Torne Mountain. A nail manufacturer from New York City named Josiah B. Pierson purchased the land in 1795, built a dam and bridge across the Ramapo River, and by 1813 was producing a million pounds of nails per year. As local iron ore supplies dwindled, the operation then expanded into weaving and cotton production, but with the coming of railroads at by mid-century the advantage of close proximity to New York was lost. Operations were suspended in 1851. This map is a reconstruction of the Ramapo Works, described in greater detail by Rev. David Cole in his <a href="https://archive.org/details/historyofrocklan00cole_0/page/n650">History of Rockland County.</a> Map Ramapo River Ramapo, NY Watersheds