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Bisociation: The Chris Berner Go To Method
Funded from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Federal Art Program (FPA), just about 1400 murals were painted in US Post Offices around the country in more than 1300 cities.
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Richard Haines Dirt Track, c. 1935-1943 Courtesy of the National Galley of Art, Washington
The Federal Art Project
WORDS + DESIGN HEATHER VAN DOORN
In the early 1930s, morale in the United States was at an all-time low. We were still trying to grapple with massive unemployment—25% of the country’s breadwinners were jobless. Frustrated and fed up with the response of the Hoover administration, Americans were more than ready for change, and in 1932 elected Democrat presidential candidate Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR). Four months after taking office, FDR unrolled his New Deal, a series of policies and programs designed to put the country on a road to relief, reform, and recovery. The New Deal’s primary goal was to get people back to work through low-interest loans to farmers, large-scale construction projects, and most interesting by today’s standards, the Federal Art Project.
By 1943, the Federal Art Project (FAP), headed by Holger Cahill, employed over 10,000 artists to produce posters, photographs, large and small sculptures, murals, paintings, and many other works of art. It employed not only noteworthy creators of the time but artists of all skill levels and backgrounds. This all-encompassing approach to fill creative positions was incredibly successful. By the end of year one, the FAP employed over 5,000 artists, each paid $23.50 a week to create. In 1943, that number more than doubled, resulting in thousands of pieces of art. The majority of these were installed in public buildings, but they also graced the walls and foyers of theaters, museums, and other arts buildings and spaces. The FAP created community art centers across the country in cities large and small to serve as art exhibition spaces, learning centers, and as a way to increase the accessibility of art to The program gave us an invaluable gift of our arts and craft heritage and a visual record of what the American experience was like for generations to come.
Today, 88 years later, we find ourselves in a similar situation. The infrastructure is in desperate need of attention. Roadways, bridges, transportation hubs, and our basic energy grid have suffered decades of neglect. On the horizon is the Biden
Administration’s $2.9 trillion plan to upgrade and bring the US into the 21st century and beyond. But is there federal money earmarked for public art? Unfortunately, there isn’t a straightforward answer. Since the time of the New Deal, state and local governments have been solely responsible for setting aside money for publicly funded art. However, Representative Anita Adams from North Carolina has introduced the Saving Transit Art Resources (STAR) Act. A promising hope for federally-funded public art projects. “Public art is infrastructure. When incorporated into transit networks, public art increases ridership, reduces vandalism, and encourages safety and security,” said Congresswoman Adams. “As an artist and art professor, I know how public art inspires residents and visitors alike while contributing to a sense of place. However, due to a change in the law, transit systems across the country like the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) are no longer able to use FTA (Federal Transit Authority) funds to integrate art into stations and park and ride lots. The STAR Act would enable transit authorities to incorporate public art as part of their infrastructure investments, creating more vibrant and welcoming mass transit options.”
Carl Morris “ Farming and Husbandry” 1943 City of Eugene Post Office photo Jimmy Emerson DVM
all. It brought art to disenfranchised communities such as Harlem or the South Side of Chicago, providing never-before opportunities to African American artists. In 1940, African American painter Jacob Lawrence knocked down racial barriers with his successful body of work “Migration Series” featuring highly stylized human forms and vivid colors.
One of the greatest contributions of the FAP to the American art legacy was the Index of American Design, extensive documentation of folk, decorative, and popular art and design. Artists and researchers traveled across the country to find, photograph, paint, and record crafts and everyday items Americans used throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. They described in detail not only toys, weather vanes, dolls, quilts, and other commonplace items, but also tools of American home builders, farmers, and blacksmiths. When the program ended in 1943, the team had produced a collection of about 18,000 beautiful watercolor renderings of traditional craft objects that are now housed in the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC.
Jacob Lawrence Migration Series #10 ”They Were Poor” photo Ron Cogswell
Art Underfoot:
WORDS + DESIGN VICTORIA STEPHENS PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY EUGENE PRINTMAKERS Decorative manhole covers are a trending Manhole Covers as Urban Art international urban art form. These cast iron lids function to provide access to underground pipes and utilities for repair and maintenance. But throughout the world, the art of manhole cover designs has a devoted cult following. Manhole cover enthusiasts, known as 'manholers', photograph, gather, trade memorabilia, sell and purchase swag. Manholers form a special group of tourists that hunt and explore for new designs, which are often logged by GPS coordinates. Books, websites, and films have been dedicated entirely to this art form, and there are even manhole cover festivals, conventions, and seminars.
In Japan Artists worldwide document, photograph, ogle, make rubbings and prints of the creative and unique
The history of the movement designs found in these mundane elements of daily life. began in Japan. Yasutake Kameda, Each geographic location has its own brand that marks a government employee, is its region. Designs on the top of the covers vary from credited with the idea of creating place to place. Often they convey stories of what is artistic manhole covers as a public important to the history or culture of people of that city, relations decision to popularize what they are known for and what they value. the modernizing of the country's In the US and locally - Many major cities include sewer system in 1985. Japan is region-specific designs. For example, Tampa, Florida, the continuing leader in this art form, as they paint the tops of the customized 80 pound cast iron lids with brightly colored resin paint. The grooves and crevices of the designs are filled with care. Most of the cities in Japan have their own designs with more than H Y SIGGY NOWAK - PIXABAY has old-time sailing ships and fish; Seattle, Washington, has maps of the city, spiders, flowers and tribal designs, and Detroit, Michigan, has a hand holding the sun. In Oregon and throughout the Pacific Northwest salmon are a popular sewer lid design, including many places in Eugene. In Eugene12,000 total unique images. These include famous buildings, cartoon characters, sports, and elements of nature among many other things. PHOTOGR A P To Uplift the Community–Snippets Last year, the Eugene Printmakers, a group of local print-based artists, received a grant from the City of Eugene to create In Europe art using designs found in public spaces. The purpose of the project was to PHOTOGRAPHY EVELYN CHAI PIXABAY A Berlin-based group of printmakers known as 'Raubdruckerin’ or ‘Print Pirates’ travel throughout the major cities of Europe making prints of various sewer lids. The manhole cover designs are transferred to clothing, bags and other goods, which sell to an international market. encourage the public during the prolonged pandemic quarantine by bringing a part of the city to them. From August through December, artists with Eugene Printmakers engaged in this urban art venture Among the dozens of cities are Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Berlin, Budapest, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris, Rome, and Vienna.
known as the 'Snippets of Eugene.'
Susan Lowdermilk, an art instructor at Lane Community College and a member of Eugene Printmakers, said they were hired by the City of Eugene after the pandemic had already started, “to be one of the groups of artists to lift up the city from our doldrums.” The grant provided seed money to cover the costs of supplies, such as ink, T-shirts and uniforms for the group.
The printmakers made prints of local manhole covers, grids and other public designs found in many neighborhoods in the area. The prints were transferred to T-shirts and bandanas, which are being sold to raise funds for nonprofit groups, such as area food banks and to support Art City, who hosts their studio space. Spectators often purchased the items on the spot.
“We are thinking about something that's fun and engaging and then something that's like out of the ordinary,” Eugene Printmaker Mika Boyd said. She said she had seen this done in Europe and proposed it to the group. She said during Covid, “everybody's kind of missing the connection, so it would be fun to like print, just out in the street, and then anyone who wants can take a little piece of Eugene.” “It was great that we got our project selected by the city,” she said. “It went really well. We kept it up, we met every month and then made a lot of prints.”
Some of their finds included beautiful curvy grates at the University of Oregon, a polkadotted cover in front of Sam Bond's Garage in the Whiteaker neighborhood, and a small water cover on the sidewalk at Fifth and Charnelton, as well as the popular Salmon manhole covers.
The process they use involves applying waterbased non-toxic fabric ink to the manholes with a foam roller and then applying paper, a T-shirt or other fabric onto that to make an impression. They use a spray bottle filled with water and a rag for clean-up. Boyd said that they leave the surfaces cleaner than they find them.
One of their favorite techniques involves applying the design in black ink onto a black T-shirt, then spritzing it with 'unicorn' or 'alligator' tears, made of bleach, to add contrast and sparkle. This fades the treated areas to a pinkish brown and highlights the print against the dark fabric.
Eugene Printmakers take joy in printmaking and share that joy with the community in the form of urban street performances, which involve education and spectator involvement. They also do pop-up events and bring printing presses and a wagon full of gear out into the community to demonstrate and give hands-on opportunities to whoever is present.
Besides Snippets of Eugene, past events have included visits to schools, pubs, festivals and other events. They have appeared in the Eugene Celebration Parade and been invited to Fiesta Cultural, Asian Festival, Children's Day at the library and participated in First Friday celebrations as well as many appearances throughout the neighborhoods in Eugene where they are likely to find an audience.
Their 'bag of tricks' has included texture rubbings at the Eugene Airport and Alton Baker Park, valentine card making, bookmarks and postcards with saying and images. As is true to their performance art style, the group dons uniforms of mechanic style overalls with their names embroidered on the front and a large logo of Eugene Printmakers emblazoning the back, along with crazy hats. Lowdermilk said the uniforms really pulled them together as a brand.
Eugene Printmaker's purpose is to celebrate printmaking, paper arts, book arts, letterpress and rubber stamping. They have three presses available for members to use at Art City, located in the Quakenbush Building at Pearl and Broadway. Membership is open to anyone who is interested, and the group consists of a core membership of about a dozen people. Lowdermilk said, “Our motto is, 'Press for the people.' We try to live that.” For more information about Eugene Printmakers or to purchase items created during the Snippets of Eugene project, please visit: eugeneprintmakers.org
Springfield,Oregon
Additional local sewer drain art can be found in Springfield. Twenty-six colorful murals have been commissioned to bring pollution awareness next to street drains throughout the city, in a project called 'Upstream Art.' More information and a walking tour map can be found at: http://www. springfield-or.gov/city/ development-publicworks/clean-water-andstormwater/ upstream-art
