A few days ago, my younger sister, Stephanie, who is getting her masters in Historic Preservation at Cornell, emailed me pictures of her newly designed apartment. I quickly realized creativity runs in the family! Her apartment was gorgeous! However, what I found most interesting were two images she had framed above her bed. I inquired where she found them. She sent me a link to images of historic prints and photographs sponsored by the Library of Congress. (Go figure, a historic preservationist interested in historic prints!) To my surprise, the site featured a collection of 908 prints called “By the People, For the People: Posters from the WPA, 1936-1943". For those of you who are not fanatical history buffs, the WPA stands for the Works Progress Administration, an agency employed under Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “New Deal”. The purpose of the WPA was to find jobs for the unemployed. The series of “silkscreen, lithograph, and woodcut posters were designed to publicize health and safety programs; cultural programs including art exhibitions, theatrical, and musical performances; travel and tourism; educational programs; and community activities in seventeen states and the District of Columbia.” All the posters are very simplistic, characteristic of lithograph and woodcut printing. In addition, not only does each poster convey an important message portraying the time period, the bold, rich colors enhance the posters message giving each design a personality of its own.

 

Below are a few of my favorites. If you get a chance, take a look at the others featured on the Library of Congress site. In addition, they also added an interview with Tony Velonis, a WPA silkscreen artist.