This silk screen was created by Anthony Velonis, who was responsible for adapting and refining silk screen techniques for the mass production of posters by many WPA project artists. WPA posters were originally created by hand and individually painted and lettered. Velonis adapted the existing silk screen techniques into methods that were appealing to a large number of artists at the time. With the influential critic and print curator Carl Zigrosser, Velonis coined the word "serigraph"(from "seri"--Latin for silk and "graphein"--Greek for to write or draw) to convey the fine-art rather than commercial aspect of the process.

Velonis was one of the thousands of artists who participated in the Federal Art Project (FAP) during the Great Depression. Part of the Works Progress Administration, the project started in 1935 and ran for eight years. Reading, books, the theater and education are themes that appealed to many of the artists who participated in the FAP.

This poster depicts what is often known as "The Voodoo Macbeth," production. Created by the Negro Theatre Unit, a recipient of employment and training provided by the Federal Theatre Project (FTP), it was directed by Orson Welles for the FTP and played in New York City in 1936.

George Biddle, the founder of the FAP in 1935, said that because of the project, the Depression exerted, "a more invigorating effect on American art than any past event in the country's history.' While times were hard, the mood of the posters was typically upbeat and the designs were bold and original and many of the artists felt free to experiment with a wide range of concepts. For American art, it was a vital period that invigorated the entire country's perception of what art could be and brought American art into the international forefront. As art historian Francis O'Connor said, "Something very vital indeed, something revolutionary happened to American culture during the 1930's."

One of the FAP's major activities was the index of American Design. The project helped popularizing American folk art by documenting the countries "usable past" of over 20,000 photographic records of American art, painting, sculpture, handicraft and folk art.

By 1943, unemployment --the primary reason for the programs creation --dipped to the point that the program was canceled.

The Library of Congress is the largest single holder of WPA posters, having over 900 in its collection.

Created/Published : Federal Art Project, New York, between 1936 and 1938

Creator : Anthony Velonis, artist, 1911 -

Part of the Works Progress Administration Collection housed in the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress

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Product #: cph3g02028