Adelaid Dybell and the Federal Art Project   Save
Ohio Guide Photographs
Description: This photograph shows Adelaid Dybell pointing to an oil painting of mortar and pestles in Cleveland, Ohio, likely teaching, as part of the Federal Art Project. Through the Federal Art Project (FAP), part of the Works Progress Administration, many artists were put to work teaching art classes and providing services. The FAP employed more than 5, 000 artists who created 225, 000 works of art for the American people. Many famous artists got their start working on the WPA, including Will Barnet, Adolph Gottlieb, Archibald Motley, David Park, and Jackson Pollock. This photograph is one of the many visual materials collected for use in the Ohio Guide. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B12F09_040_001
Subjects: Art--Study and teaching; Paintings; Art schools; Federal Art Project; Works Progress Administration; Ohio Federal Writers' Project
Places: Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)