New Deal Arts & Culture Programs in Kansas
Birger Sandzén, “Smoky River” (1938), Lindsborg, KS Post Office.
Oscar Berninghaus, “Border Gateways” (1937), Fort Scott, KS Post Office.
David Hicks Overmyer, “Science and Industry; Agriculture and Animal Husbandry; The Arts; Home Economics” (1934), K-State Hale Library
William Judson Dickerson, “Industrial Wichita #4” (1934), lithograph.
Margaret Whittemore, “Berry Creek Bridge” (c.1930s), color linocut.
The state of Kansas is home to a number of New Deal-era federally-funded artworks and arts programs created between the years 1934-1943.
The Treasury Department's Section of Painting and Sculpture (commonly known as "Section") commissioned artwork in twenty-six post offices and courthouses across the state, including three sculptures, two sets of terra cotta reliefs, and twenty-four murals - with three locations having two artworks. (See this list for details.) Prominent regional and national artists painted Section murals in the state, including Oscar Berninghaus, Birger Sandzén, Joe Jones, and Albert T. Reid. However, many were younger artists in the earlier stages their career, such as Martyl, Vance Kirkland, Jessie Wilbur, and Kenneth Miller Adams. Three communities - Wichita, Salina, and Marion - outright rejected their initial post office artworks. Wichita and Salina received other artworks deemed less "objectionable" to the community, but Marion chose to keep their post office art-free.
In addition to Section murals and sculptures, Kansas is also home to a set of murals in the K-State Hale Library by David Hicks Overmyer commissioned by the Public Works of Art (PWAP) program, a painting and partially completed mural funded by the WPA’s Federal Art Project (FAP) by Overmyer at Topeka High School, and a FAP-funded statue in Newton by Mat Nixon. The WPA also partially funded murals at the University of Kansas, Independence schools, Holton schools, and Agricultural Hall in Topeka, which are unfortunately no longer in existence. Click the map to see these artwork locations, as well as photos and additional information.
The PWAP and the FAP also funded a number of prints, watercolors, and oil paintings by Kansas artists such as Mary Huntoon, William Judson Dickerson, Charles Rogers, Ted Hawkins, Rolland Ayers, Margaret Nellis, and many others. Copies of these works currently reside at a number of art museums, libraries, and other institutions in the state. The FAP also established a community art center in Topeka, held art shows across the state, and donated artworks to Kansas schools. The Kansas FAP also made a number of contributions to the WPA’s Index of American Design project, in which artists created watercolor images of American folk and decorative art objects from colonial times through 1900.
Beyond the traditional "fine arts" program, the WPA in Kansas also sponsored other programs that brought arts and culture opportunities into local communities. The WPA’s Federal Writers’ Project (FWP) employed Kansas writers to compile a state guide and collect local folklore. Through the division of Recreation Projects, local music programs, concerts, and music lessons were established in a number of counties in Kansas. The Federal Music Project (FMP) supported two full-time WPA bands in Kansas City, KS - one white and one African-American. Many local theater productions during this era in Kansas were also funded through the WPA, and arts and crafts classes for adults and children were made possible throughout the state with WPA monies.
The WPA in Kansas also had an active Museum Extension Project (MEP). Operating in 23 states, the MEP provided educational visual aids to schools, libraries, local museums, and other similar institutions. The most recognizable products of this program are the sets of dolls clothed in traditional cultural and historical costumes. The MEP in Kansas also produced a variety of print sets on topics like wildflowers of Kansas, historical costumes, and Kansas landmark prints. Other craft items produced by the project include dioramas of scenes from Kansas history, models of agricultural and industrial implements, and furniture miniature. Kansas artists Margaret Whittemore and Avis Chitwood created many of the prints for the Kansas MEP. Members of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation designed intricate beadwork designs from a workshop in Mayetta. However, the work of many of the artists and craftspeople working for the MEP went unattributed. A number of libraries and local museums around the state have collections of these MEP dolls, prints, and other items.
The full extent of the presence of these New Deal arts programs in Kansas is still being uncovered, as I find out the existence of new works of art created by Kansas FAP artists in the course of my research.