"Art Within Reach: from the WPA to the Present" Exhibition
Children's Museum of the Arts
This event has ended.
Art Within Reach: from the WPA to the Present, an intergenerational art exhibition which will explore the connections between growing up in New York City during the Great Depression and growing up in the city today. The greatest achievement of the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project was to instill in millions of Americans the idea that art is for everyone.
Made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, this exhibition of works from CMA’s permanent collection of children’s art will feature a rare selection of Depression-era children’s paintings of New York City created in Community Art Centers run by the Federal Art Project. The 19 original works will be juxtaposed with 19 new paintings created by today’s children in CMA’s Young Artists’ Residency program.
The Young Artists Residency program is based on the 1930s WPA art education model of children working with a resident teaching artist in the medium of painting. In February of 2010, 21 students, ages 9–14 years old, were selected from local public schools to participate in this free residency program. In addition to gaining instruction in painting, students received art history lectures on the WPA Federal Arts Project.
When showcased side by side, the works will not only document the evolution of New York City’s landscape over the past 75 years, but will also raise questions about the public’s access to art during economically challenging times. Extending far beyond the gallery exhibition, the project resurrects WPA-era programs in art education, creation and exhibition in order to actively involve our community in addressing why should art be accessible to everyone.
Media
Schedule
from January 19, 2011 to June 05, 2011
Opening Reception on 2011-01-22 from 17:00 to 19:00