The Blanton Museum of Art Presents Art in Every Corner: The Works Progress Administration (1935-1943)
What:
New exhibition in the Blanton Museum of Art’s Paper Vault features more than 70 artworks produced by artists employed under the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Artists featured include Thomas Hart Benton, Grant Wood, Dorothea Lange, Jacob Lawrence, Rockwell Kent, Paul Cadmus, and Walker Evans.
When:
May 2– Sep. 27, 2026
Details:
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was a relief program established in 1935 that employed struggling Americans during the Great Depression. Following the WPA’s closure in 1943, works of art created under federal sponsorship were allocated to institutions across the country, including prints, paintings, and drawings given to what is today the Blanton Museum of Art. Art in Every Corner: The Works Progress Administration (1935-1943) celebrates the WPA’s dynamic impact on artists who depicted every aspect of American life.
This exhibition is curated by Sarah Bane, Assistant Curator of Prints and Drawings, Blanton Museum of Art.
Related Events:
Curator’s Choice Tour
Sunday, May 10, 2026, 2 p.m.
Sarah Bane, Assistant Curator of Prints and Drawings, will give a gallery talk about the etching The Fleet’s In! by Paul Cadmus.
Art Talk and Book Signing
Art with An Expert: What is the Role of Art in a Democracy? Lessons from the New Deal with John P. Murphy
Sunday, May 10, 2026, 3 p.m.
At the height of the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal turned crisis into opportunity. Through unprecedented federal funding for the arts, the New Deal launched the careers of artists such as Dorothea Lange, Jacob Lawrence, Alice Neel, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko, while advancing a bold vision of cultural democracy. This talk considers the promises and pitfalls of the New Deal art programs, drawing lessons for today on the role of art in a democratic society. Followed by a book signing in the Museum Store.
Public Tour, Art in Every Corner: The Works Progress Administration
(1935-1943)
Tuesday, May 26, 2026, 12:30 p.m.
Buy tickets and view additional information at blantonmuseum.org.
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Media Contact:
Kaci Baez
Kaci.baez@blantonmuseum.org
(512) 471-9213
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About the Blanton Museum of Art:
Founded in 1963, the Blanton Museum of Art at The University of Texas at Austin holds the largest public collection in Central Texas with more than 21,000 objects. Recognized as the home of Austin by Ellsworth Kelly, its major collecting areas are modern and contemporary U.S. and Latin American art, Italian Renaissance and Baroque paintings, and prints and drawings. The Blanton offers thought-provoking, visually arresting, and personally moving encounters with art.