Description
Book SynopsisArt for everyone--the Federal Art Project's drive for middlebrow visual culture and identity
Trade Review “[Grieve’s] tightly constructed and well-argued book touches on critical contemporary issues regarding federal funding of the arts, especially during times of economic distress.”--Journal of Illinois History
"Recommended."--
Choice "An interesting, well-written and thought-provoking book."--
American Studies"This rich study answers many important questions about an intriguing aspect of 1930s culture. The past several years have seen a growing interest in middlebrow culture, and this book will advance that current considerably."--Miles Orvell, author of
After the Machine: Visual Arts and the Erasing of Cultural Boundaries"An important and original contribution to our understanding of the role of the Federal Art Project in the context of larger twentieth-century intellectual conceptualizations of the role of art in society, especially regarding middle-class and working-class audiences. Essential reading in twentieth-century art history, folklore, public history, and popular intellectual history--and a pleasure to read."--Erika Brady, author of
A Spiral Way: How the Phonograph Changed EthnographyTable of ContentsAcknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1. The Art of Experience 11
2. Inventing a Usable Past 37
3. New Museums and New Critics 59
4. The Federal Art Project and the Making of Middlebrow Culture 83
5. Marketing the American Folk 110
6. Creating the Middlebrow Consumer 135
Conclusion 163
Notes 181
Bibliography 205
Index 223
