The Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project (WPA/FAP), part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal to stimulate the economy and create jobs during the Great Depression, employed thousands of artists between 1935 and 1943 to create artworks for public spaces. This groundbreaking democratic experiment celebrated and supported American art and artists by providing a source of income, enhancing public buildings, and enriching the lives of Americans in the throes of the Great Depression. The Art Commission reviewed hundreds of Federal Art Project commissions during this period, including murals, sculpture and mosaics. A significant portion of the WPA/FAP commissions in our collection were installed in public health and hospital facilities. There is a noticeable shift in theme and tone depending on the location of murals. Murals in children's wards often focused on nursery rhymes and fanciful themes, while those in nurses' recreation rooms were "relaxing" and focused on familial scenes. Murals in doctors' recreation rooms focused on the history and progress of medicine, while those in psychiatric wards sought to provide therapy for mental distress.

Shops on Graham Avenue at Grand Street: Price & Quality Malt Extract; Shoe Shine & Hat Cleaning Parlor; Sam Aronoff Shoes. September 11, 1930. Graham Avenue has long been a commercial thoroughfare in Williamsburg. The malt extract storefront at No. 282 Graham is a symptom of Prohibition: many beer producers shifted to production of nonalcoholic malt extract while beer sales were banned. The building was sold at auction in 1880 and later became a meeting place for Thirteenth Assembly District Democrats. Today, the building’s frame remains intact but its brick exterior has been painted over.

Roman Catholic Church of St. Nicholas, June 1, 1937. St. Nicholas (center, at the intersection of Powers and Olive Streets) formed the center of the 19th century German immigrant community in Williamsburg. The 1866 church building seen in this photograph was converted to a school run by Dominican nuns who lived on the grounds. While the storefronts are gone and the remaining buildings have been re-sided, the school, without its belfry, still stands.

St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, viewed from the site cleared for the construction of the Williamsburg Houses. December 22, 1935. The St. John’s congregation was founded in 1844, as a coalition of German Protestant worshipers. In 1853, the church adopted a Lutheran doctrine and continued to grow as a fixture of Williamsburg’s German community, with members worshipping at a church at nearby Wyckoff Street (now Ten Eyck Street). Construction on a new Gothic church began in 1883 to accommodate the congregation’s growth. In the early 20th century, German immigrants were arriving in Williamsburg in smaller numbers, leading St. John’s parishioners to establish a satellite mission in Glendale, Queens. From mid-1930s on, the continued demographic changes in the neighborhood and the construction of the adjacent Williamsburg Houses led to the decline of the original Williamsburg Church. In 1953, the original congregation shifted to the Glendale mission. At the same time, The Lutheran Church of St. John the Evangelist, a new congregation, was established among local worshippers. Today, the church continues to conduct Lutheran services and shares its facilities with Kingsland Ward a performing arts organization best known for its immersive theater project “Then She Fell.”

Graham and Metropolitan Avenues, Williamsburg, Brooklyn; shot by Berenice Abbott. June 1, 1937. The corner building includes intricate cornice work with raised panel, dated 1893, topped with a lute sculpture, and a hipped pyramidal tower. Today, the wooden clapboards have been replaced by vinyl siding and the facade has been stripped of any ornamentation. At lower left is the entrance to the Graham Street Station of the BMT Canarsie Line (today’s L train).