The Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP) was a New Deal arts program that commissioned visual artists to provide artistic decoration for existing Federal buildings during the Great Depression in the United States . A project of the United States Department of the Treasury , TRAP was administered by the Section of Painting and Sculpture and funded by the Works Progress Administration , which provided assistants employed through the Federal Art Project . The Treasury Relief Art Project also created murals and sculpture for Public Works Administration housing projects. TRAP was established July 21, 1935, and continued through June 30, 1938.
25-671: The Treasury Relief Art Project was created July 21, 1935, with an allocation of $ 530,784 from the Works Progress Administration. The project was conceived and overseen by Treasury Department arts administrator Edward Bruce . Artist Olin Dows was chief of the Treasury Relief Art Project; Cecil H. Jones, who later succeeded Dows, was assistant chief. Forbes Watson was director. Unlike the concurrent Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture , TRAP
50-792: A brief illness. A Liberty ship , the SS Edward Bruce , was named in Bruce's honor. The ship was christened by his widow November 8, 1943, at the Bethlehem Fairfield Shipyard of Baltimore. Bruce was a prominent landscape painter whose work was shown in leading U.S. galleries and museums and purchased by the government of France. Seven of his canvases are in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum : Treasury Relief Art Project The Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP)
75-700: A percentage of the budget overseen by the Treasury Department's procurement division. The Treasury Relief Art Project was funded by the WPA. The Section supervised the creative output of TRAP, and selected a master artist for each project. Assistants were then chosen by the artist from the rolls of the WPA Federal Art Project . As chief of the Treasury Relief Art Project, Dows was responsible for maintaining financial records for relief and non-relief personnel. A fixed proportion of all workers
100-688: The Art Students League . It was TRAP's most extensive and successful project in New York, encompassing 2,300 square feet. Existing post office buildings that received TRAP artwork included the following: In addition to producing artwork for Federal buildings, the Treasury Relief Art Project created murals and sculpture for Public Works Administration housing projects in Boston, Camden, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Washington, D.C. and Stamford. To maintain its high artistic standards,
125-649: The Far East with a company he created, the Pacific Development Corporation. Throughout this time Bruce continued painting and collecting art, particularly Chinese art . In 1922, he ended his business career and moved to Italy to study art with the American painter and sculptor Maurice Sterne . He left Italy in 1929 because of the oppressive Fascist conditions, and moved to California . His landscape paintings, which were influenced by
150-467: The Philippines . He cultivated good relations with Washington officials, and joined the Treasury Department in 1932 as an expert on monetary policy. In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt received a letter from the American painter George Biddle , who suggested a New Deal program that would hire artists to paint murals in federal office buildings. Roosevelt was intrigued by the idea, and brought
175-663: The Chinese works in his collection, were featured in a number of one-person shows with excellent reviews in Paris, New York, and San Francisco. Despite his acclaim as an artist, Bruce was unable to sell any artwork after the start of the Depression, and returned to a career in business. In the winter of 1932 he came to Washington to lobby on behalf of the Calamba Sugar Estate of San Francisco , which had interests in
200-674: The Depression, he found it impossible to make a living making art, and he grudgingly returned to business as a lobbyist in Washington, D.C. In 1932 he joined the Treasury Department, where his expertise in monetary policy and art guided federal efforts to employ workers in the visual arts during the Great Depression in the United States . Edward Bright Bruce was born in Dover Plains, New York , on April 13, 1879,
225-631: The Depression. It was an emergency program that was not given strict relief testing. In its six months of existence, the Public Works of Art Project employed about 3,700 artists, spending about $ 1,312,000. In October 1934, the Treasury Department created the Section of Painting and Sculpture (later named the Section of Fine Arts, and usually called simply the Section) under Bruce's leadership. It
250-440: The Section of Painting and Sculpture, which commissioned art for new construction using a percentage of the budget overseen by the Treasury Department's procurement division. The Treasury Relief Art Project was funded by the WPA. The Section supervised the creative output of TRAP, and selected a master artist for each project. Assistants were then chosen by the artist from the rolls of the WPA Federal Art Project . As chief of
275-729: The Treasury Relief Art Project commissioned only a small number of artists—356 workers at its peak in 1936. Richmond Barthé , Ahron Ben-Shmuel, Paul Cadmus , Marion Greenwood , William Gropper , Reginald Marsh and Heinz Warneke were among the master artists who led projects. A complete list of projects and artists employed by TRAP is included in the final report held by the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art . New Deal artwork : Murals * Post office murals ( list ) * Sculpture * WPA Rustic architecture * PWA Moderne architecture Edward Bruce (New Deal) Edward Bright Bruce (April 13, 1879 – January 26, 1943)
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#1732775584650300-520: The Treasury Relief Art Project, Dows was responsible for maintaining financial records for relief and non-relief personnel. A fixed proportion of all workers was to be taken from the relief rolls—initially 90 percent, but revised to 75 percent in December 1935. Although it was regarded as a success, the Treasury Relief Art Project was ended June 30, 1938. At a total cost of $ 833,784, 89 mural projects and 65 sculpture projects were completed under
325-569: The Treasury Relief Art Project, as well as 10,000 easel paintings that were distributed to Federal offices. Reginald Marsh was the master artist commissioned in 1937 to create a cycle of murals in fresco for the rotunda of the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House . Marsh's team of assistants included Oliver M. Baker, Xavier J. Barile , Charles Bateman, Mary Fife , Lloyd Lozes Goff , Ludwig Mactarian , John Poehler, Erica Volsung and J. Walkley, students he knew from his teaching at
350-524: The idea to the Treasury Department, which oversaw all construction of federal buildings. Bruce was asked to help plan and organize the effort. In December 1933, Bruce was appointed administrator of the first federally supported arts program, the Public Works of Art Project . He was given the task of organizing the work-relief project that employed professional artists to create sculptures, paintings, crafts and design for public buildings and parks during
375-544: The son of a Baptist minister. He began painting at the age of 14. He graduated from Columbia Law School in 1904 with high honors. He began practicing law in New York City and Manila in the Philippines with the law firm of Bruce, Lawrence, Ross and Block. While working in Manila, he bought and ran The Manila Times , a popular daily newspaper. In 1915 he changed his focus to banking and trade throughout China and
400-634: The work-relief employment of Federal Art Project artists to assist in the creation of artworks for existing federal buildings. TRAP employed 446 people, including 275 artists, 75 percent of them on relief. The total project cost was $ 833,784 and operated until 1939. In 1935, Bruce was elected into the National Academy of Design as an associate member. FDR appointed him to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts in 1940; he served until 1943. Bruce died January 26, 1943, in Hollywood, Florida , after
425-470: Was TRAP's most extensive and successful project in New York, encompassing 2,300 square feet. Existing post office buildings that received TRAP artwork included the following: In addition to producing artwork for Federal buildings, the Treasury Relief Art Project created murals and sculpture for Public Works Administration housing projects in Boston, Camden, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Washington, D.C. and Stamford. To maintain its high artistic standards,
450-831: Was a New Deal arts program that commissioned visual artists to provide artistic decoration for existing Federal buildings during the Great Depression in the United States . A project of the United States Department of the Treasury , TRAP was administered by the Section of Painting and Sculpture and funded by the Works Progress Administration , which provided assistants employed through the Federal Art Project . The Treasury Relief Art Project also created murals and sculpture for Public Works Administration housing projects. TRAP
475-439: Was a work-relief program, subject to the income and employment standards of the WPA. The September 1935 announcement of the program estimated that it would employ 400 to 500 artists. The principal mission of the Treasury Relief Art Project was to provide artistic decoration for existing Federal buildings. These projects could not be performed by the Section of Painting and Sculpture, which commissioned art for new construction using
500-478: Was assistant chief. Forbes Watson was director. Unlike the concurrent Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture , TRAP was a work-relief program, subject to the income and employment standards of the WPA. The September 1935 announcement of the program estimated that it would employ 400 to 500 artists. The principal mission of the Treasury Relief Art Project was to provide artistic decoration for existing Federal buildings. These projects could not be performed by
525-406: Was established July 21, 1935, and continued through June 30, 1938. The Treasury Relief Art Project was created July 21, 1935, with an allocation of $ 530,784 from the Works Progress Administration. The project was conceived and overseen by Treasury Department arts administrator Edward Bruce . Artist Olin Dows was chief of the Treasury Relief Art Project; Cecil H. Jones, who later succeeded Dows,
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#1732775584650550-587: Was not a work-relief program, but rather a program that commissioned paintings and sculptures for new federal buildings—most notably post offices and court houses—through open competitions. The project continued until 1943, after awarding some 1,400 contracts to artists at a cost of $ 2,571,000. Administered by the Section under Bruce, the Treasury Relief Art Project was created in July 1935. The Works Progress Administration allocated funds for
575-480: Was the administrator of the New Deal art projects of the United States Department of the Treasury : the Public Works of Art Project (1933–1934), the Section of Painting and Sculpture (1934–1943), and the Treasury Relief Art Project (1935–1938). Ned Bruce was a successful lawyer and entrepreneur before giving up his business career altogether at the age of 43 to become an artist. However, like most artists during
600-400: Was the master artist commissioned in 1937 to create a cycle of murals in fresco for the rotunda of the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House . Marsh's team of assistants included Oliver M. Baker, Xavier J. Barile , Charles Bateman, Mary Fife , Lloyd Lozes Goff , Ludwig Mactarian , John Poehler, Erica Volsung and J. Walkley, students he knew from his teaching at the Art Students League . It
625-424: Was to be taken from the relief rolls—initially 90 percent, but revised to 75 percent in December 1935. Although it was regarded as a success, the Treasury Relief Art Project was ended June 30, 1938. At a total cost of $ 833,784, 89 mural projects and 65 sculpture projects were completed under the Treasury Relief Art Project, as well as 10,000 easel paintings that were distributed to Federal offices. Reginald Marsh
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