Even in the darkest times, art lights the way. And so it did in 1934 when our entire country was in the depths of the Great Depression. Like the rest of the US, Key West, too, had fallen on hard times. Despite having been the wealthiest US city per capita in the mid-1800s, by the 1930s, the island had become bankrupt, and by some estimates, as many as 85 percent of its inhabitants were on relief.
But all was not lost.
Thanks to President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal Programs, the 1930s turned into a heady time for artists in America. The largest of the New Deal art projects was the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which hired as many as 10,000 artists and writers to create murals, paintings, sculpture, graphic art, posters, guidebooks, photography, and theater scenic design, and arts and crafts.
The artists were given complete freedom to create whatever they wanted as long as the subject matter reflected the “American scene.”
The New Deal was just what the impoverished City of Key West needed. After visiting the run-down island, government officials decided that it would be the perfect place for an artists’ colony, a sort of Greenwich Village or Provincetown South.
The project was a huge success.
The publicity Key West received helped revitalize the economy and attracted interesting people from all over the world. Suddenly the island was the new epicenter for artists, writers, actors, politicians, and other prominent personalities.
As a result of this program and other improvements, Key West attracted an estimated 35,000-40,000 tourists during the winter of 1934-35.
Many of the WPA artists were later celebrated with exhibits at the Smithsonian, Metropolitan Museum, MOMA, and the Art Institute of Chicago. Their work was regularly snapped up by the Fords, Flaglers, Mellons, and Rockefellers. Many became art celebrities, such as de Kooning, Jackson Pollack, Georgia O’Keefe, and Mark Rothko.
Today, the WPA artists still offer a fascinating look at life in the Keys during this dynamic period. Many of their time capsule artworks are on display, at Key West’s highly acclaimed Gallery On Greene, 606 Greene Street in Key West. Info: 305-294-1669; galleryongreene.com.
