IT HAS BEEN A LONG WHILE SINCE

artist was part of the respected working membership of acommunity. Do-
job (as a job) as well as he could and asking nothing more than the security
k on hand, a fair return for his labour and the knowledge that he is a neces-
art of civilization. That was the period, (for the West) beginning with the
issance, that made the names of Masaccio, Pierro della Francesca, Leonardo,
and El Greco significant to the artists of today. A period, at first, when the
h was a vast consumer of the artist’s products, and later when the man of
h and royalty claimed art as a convenient background to his position. Today
e is little demand for religious painting and those rich or royal are now fewer
less considerate of their cultural prestige. Except for a mere handful of artists
er fortunate enough to find the gleam of a collector’s fancy, or adroit enough
xploit themselves to pecuniary ends, the majority pass along unnoticed, without
opportunity to fully exhibit or exercise their talents. Just what the world has
t by offering no encouragement to creative expression is of course hard to say.
t, one might well guess we are the poorer, especially if we consider, for example,
at Michelangelo would not have had th2 opportunity to paint his ‘last judgment”
if the church had not been a patron of the arts. There must be both need and
encouragement for the artist as a worker before he can function fully to the bene-
it of all.

In no other country today is this need and encouragement so well fostered
n the United States. By many authorities the activity there in art is comparable
hat of the Italian Rennaissance. This activity grew from a conscious beginning
sored by the U. S. Government and known as the Federal Art Project, a branch
he Works Project Administration (W.P.A.). This is no mere vocal encourage-
t but in millions of dollars set aside for the employment of thousands of unem-
ed artists and artisans. Most important, they are organized much in the spirit
e old guild system and directed to necessary work. Not as half starved Bohemian
rret dwellers, but as workers, they find a place in the community and receive
concrete encouragement for their toil.

Little of their work is seen in the sanctums of galleries or museums, yet over
two thousand murals are now housed in slum clearance units, hospitals, schools, uni-
versities, public libraries, court houses, airports, post offices, auditoriums, parks,
government buildings and public places all over the country, along with the works
of the sculptures and craftsmen. What other country is bringing the public face to
face with the artist in such a vast and social manner as this? What other country
has the wisdom to stimulate the creative energy of its people and thereby grow the
richer?

True, there has been much criticism of the quality of the work—but if out
f every ten, one good artist who might otherwise have passed unnoticed is given
he opportunity to show himself, it is an encouraging average. Out of activity, devel-
ment and experiment will evolve a quality, as this project is doing now with the
Ip of the W.P.A.
The discovering and development of talent is only half the job of this nation-
e project. The expanding of a receptive and intelligent public for these thous-
s of new found artists is as important. Both by natural reaction of contact with
artist and his work and by the conscious efforts of the W.P.A. art centres where
yone (and particularly children) have the opportunity to participate in some
of artistic expression, the old prejudices are broken down, making way for a
hy interest of the Arts.
The W.P.A. is not catering to the whims of the dilettante, it is laying a
ation for the culture of a new country. This is not art for the few but for
ny. —B. C. BINNING.

a
IT HAS BEEN A LONG WHILE SINCE
artist was part of the respected working membership of a community. Do-
job (as a job) as well as he could and asking nothing more than the security
k on hand, a fair return for his labour and the knowledge that he is a neces-
art of civilization. That was the period, (for the West) beginning with the
issance, that made the names of Masaccio, Pierro della Francesca, Leonardo,
and El Greco significant to the artists of today. A period, at first, when the
h was a vast consumer of the artist’s products, and later when the man of
h and royalty claimed art as a convenient background to his position. Today
e is little demand for religious painting and those rich or royal are now fewer
less considerate of their cultural prestige. Except for a mere handful of artists
er fortunate enough to find the gleam of a collector's fancy, or adroit enough
xploit themselves to pecuniary ends, the majority pass along unnoticed, without
opportunity to fully exhibit or exercise their talents. Just what the world has
st by offering no encouragement to creative expression is of course hard to say.
it, one might well guess we are the poo-er, especially if we consider, for example,
at Michelangelo would not have had th2 opportunity to paint his “last judgment”
if the church had not been a patron of the arts. There must be both need and
encouragement for the artist as a worker before he can function fully to the bene-
it of all.
In no other country today is this need and encouragement so well fostered
in the United States. By many authorities the activity there in art is comparable
hat of the Italian Rennaissance. This activity grew from a conscious beginning
sored by the U. S. Government and known as the Federal Art Project, a branch
he Works Project Administration (W.P.A.). This is no mere vocal encourage-
it but in millions of dollars set aside for the employment of thousands of unem-
ed artists and artisans. Most important, they are organized much in the spirit
1 old guild system and directed to necessary work. Not as half starved Bohemian
rret dwellers, but as workers, they find a place in the community and receive
concrete encouragement for their toil.

Little of their work is seen in the sanctums of galleries or museums, yet over
two thousand murals are now housed in slum clearance units, hospitals, schools, uni-
versities, public libraries, court houses, airports, post offices, auditoriums, parks,
government buildings and public places all over the country, along with the works
of the sculptures and craftsmen. What other country is bringing the public face to
face with the artist in such a vast and social manner as this? What other country
has the wisdom to stimulate the creative energy of its people and thereby grow the
richer?

True, there has been much criticism of the quality of the work—but if out
f every ten, one good artist who might otherwise have passed unnoticed is given
e opportunity to show himself, it is an encouraging average. Out of activity, devel-
ment and experiment will evolve a quality, as this project is doing now with the
Ip of the W.P.A.
The discovering and development of talent is only half the job of this nation-
le project. The expanding of a receptive and intelligent public for these thous-
ls of new found artists is as important. Both by natural reaction of contact with
artist and his work and by the conscious efforts of the W.P.A. art centres where
yone (and particularly children) have the opportunity to participate in some
of artistic expression, the old prejudices are broken down, making way for a
hy interest of the Arts.
The W.P.A. is not catering to the whims of the dilettante, it is laying a
lation for the culture of a new country. This is not art for the few but for
ny. —B. C. BINNING.

a