Creativity in Challenging Times: Art for ISU in the New Deal Era with Joni Kinsey - Video

Flourishing in hard times requires creativity and Iowans rose to the challenge during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Drawing upon the exhibition, Artists of an Era: A New Deal, Iowa Artists, and Iowa State College, this vividly illustrated lecture by Joni Kinsey, Ph.D., will explore how ISC administrators and faculty collaborated with federal programs to develop a lively arts scene that established Iowa as a national model. Ranging from the Public Works of Art Project that employed Grant Wood, Christian Petersen, and others to make murals for Iowa State buildings, new forms of art patronage and arts curricula for the college, and women’s leadership in innovative programs, the developments in Iowa’s arts in the New Deal Era provided an important legacy for today’s creative culture.
This lecture was presented on Nov. 3, 2024 via Zoom.