The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. Under national director Holger Cahill, it was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and the largest of the New Deal art projects. It was created not as a cultural activity, but as a relief measure to employ artists and artisans to create murals, easel paintings, sculpture, graphic art, posters, photography, theatre scenic design, and arts and crafts. The WPA Federal Art Project established more than 100 community art centers throughout the country, researched and documented American design, commissioned a significant body of public art without restriction to content or subject matter, and sustained some 10,000 artists and craft workers during the Great Depression. According to American Heritage, “Something like 400,000 easel paintings, murals, prints, posters, and renderings were produced by WPA artists during the eight years of the project’s existence, virtually free of government pressure to control subject matter, interpretation, or style.”
The Racine Art Museum (RAM) and RAM's Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts are located in Racine, Wisconsin, U.S. The museum holds the largest and most significant contemporary craft collection in North America, with more than 9,500 objects from nationally and internationally recognized artists. The Racine Art Museum's mission is to exhibit, collect, preserve, and educate in the contemporary visual arts. Its goal is to elevate the stature of craft to fine arts by presenting contemporary crafts alongside paintings and sculptures.
The Wisconsin Workers Memorial is a public artwork by American artists Terese Agnew and Mary Zebell located in Zeidler Park, which is in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. The artwork, created in 1995, takes the whole park as its theme, and includes a gazebo in the middle of the park with handles of tools and grills forming the ornamental grillwork. There are also decorative chains around the park spelling out popular labor slogans, as well as graphic panels explaining significant moments in Wisconsin's labor history.
Spirit of Commerce is a public artwork by German artist Gustav Haug located in Jackson Park, which is on the south side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This zinc sculpture is 15 feet tall and sits on a red granite pedestal near the park's lagoon. It is the oldest public sculpture in Milwaukee.
Wind Leaves is a public artwork by American artist Ned Kahn located on the downtown lakefront Pier Wisconsin in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was created in 2006 and consists of a series of seven 30 ft (9 m) tall structures made from aluminum and stainless steel. The structures, which move with the wind, have leaf forms at the top covered by thousands of stainless steel disks.
Woodland Indian and Whistling Swans is a bronze sculpture created by American sculptor Marshall Fredericks in 1963. It is located at the Milwaukee Public Museum at 800 West Wells Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The Juneau Monument is a public artwork by American artist Richard Henry Park located on the grounds of Juneau Park, which is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The base of the statue is made of limestone. On top of the base is a bronze statue of Solomon Juneau. On each side of the base are bronze reliefs. The statue is 5 feet (1.5 m) wide by 15 feet (4.6 m) high.
Boy with Goose, is a public artwork by Italian artist Girolamo Piccoli, currently in storage in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States.
Chrysalis is a public artwork by American artist Beth Sahagian located at the entrance of the Marion Chester Read Center, which is near Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, United States. The sculpture is carved from 2,500 pounds of Indiana limestone and bronze. It consists of one solid form and measures about 75" x 36". Chrysalis was installed in the entrance of the Marion Chester Read Center in October 1990.
Three Bronze Discs is a piece of public artwork by American artist James Wines located in the courtyard of the Golda Meir Library, near Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Made of bronze, the sculpture is three circular bronze discs located in a pool of water. It is 10 feet by 8 feet and 5 feet in diameter.
The Washington Monument is a public artwork by American artist Richard Henry Park located on the Court of Honor in front of the Milwaukee Public Library Central Library, which is near Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The bronze sculpture is a full-length portrait of a 43-year-old George Washington, and stands on a granite pedestal; a bronze woman points up at Washington while a child, also made out of bronze, gazes upward. It was sculpted by Richard Henry Park and was erected in 1885 with philanthropic financial support from Elizabeth Plankinton. The statue was restored between July 2016 and January 2018.
Referee is a public artwork by American artist Tom Queoff, located on the south entrance of the UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena, which is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. The 9 foot laminated marble sculpture depicts an abstracted referee with legs spread apart and arms raised.
The Lapham Memorial is a public artwork by American artist Albert H. Atkins, located near the entrance to Lapham Hall, on the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee campus. It is in memory of Increase A. Lapham, a 19th-century scientist famous for prompting the creation of the National Weather Service and recording the antiquities of Wisconsin, among other accomplishments.
Sentinels is a public artwork by American artist Jon Barlow Hudson, located at the bottom of the Brady Street pedestrian bridge over North Lincoln Memorial Drive, which is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was commissioned as a part of the Wisconsin Percent for Art Program.
Rudolf Schwarz, sometimes spelled Rudolph Schwarz, was an Austrian-born American sculptor. He emigrated to Indianapolis in December 1897 to help complete the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in Indianapolis, Indiana, which was designed by German architect Bruno Schmitz. He was invited to work on the project by Karl Bitter, with whom he had worked in Austria.
The Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee (HACM) is a municipal agency of Milwaukee, Wisconsin dedicated to providing public housing and services for residents of the city of Milwaukee. The agency was established in 1944 and is responsible to a board of commissioners appointed by the mayor.
Fishing is a public art work by Karl Kahlich located in Monument Park at the Parklawn development of the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee, northwest of downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Fishing is carved from local limestone and depicts a figure in a cap holding a large fish. The sculpture was installed in 1938 as one of four public artworks based on the theme of leisure activity.
Edge Elements is a public sculpture by Richard Hansen located at South Shore Park on the south side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Edge Elements is a series of five sculptures. The group of sculptures was commissioned by the Milwaukee County Percent for Art Program.
The Reaper is a public art work by artist Gustav Bohland, located on the south side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The bronze sculpture depicts an agricultural worker dressed in overalls and a wide-brimmed hat. One hand rests against his hip, and the other hand grasps the snath of a scythe that rests across his shoulders. The tool's toe and cline hang behind the figure's back. His boots rest on a small round base mounted on a circular flagstone pedestal. The artwork is located at the former corporate headquarters of Froedtert Malting Company which is now the US headquarters of MaltEurop.
