It was dubbed the Works Progress Administration and 80 years ago the former federal agency harnessed artists’ talents during the Great Depression and put creative people to work beautifying America during a desperate time.
The Works Progress artists have passed into history but the potential for artists to transform communities — and an entire country — on a large scale still exists.
Lynn’s Beyond Walls project last summer is a prime example of how creativity added another dimension to the city’s architecturally-rich downtown. Formerly bare and drab walls became canvasses for artists working with spray paint cans and hydraulic lifts.
Beyond Walls is poised to do greater good in Lynn this year just as similar civic-oriented arts endeavors, such as “Nine for Nine” in Medford, are improving communities.
Well-known local artist and children’s illustrator Jennifer DesAutels headlines a group of nine artists who started displaying their work in Medford City Hall beginning Wednesday.
DesAutels and fellow artists Laurinda Bedingfield, Marilyn Davidson, Linda Dolph, Sarah Gerould, Sophie Glikson, Judy Kaplan, Tamara Major and Lisa L. Sears are affiliated with the aptly-named Works-in-Progress Artist Group, a 10-year-old Medford organization that has flourished and is currently supported by a core group of 15 artists.
By linking up with the Medford CACHE (Coalition for Arts, Culture and a Healthy Economy) program, “Nine for Nine” artists are showing their work in the center of city government through Feb. 9. The public display underscores the foresight Medford elected officials demonstrated in highlighting the city’s arts community.
Art possesses an intangible but undeniable power to shine rays of hope into lives and to provide inspiration to people who look at a painting or photograph or hear music and say, “I can do that too.” Works Progress Administration founders understood in 1935 that beauty and the creation of art simply for art’s sake could nourish Americans’ souls at a time when fear, confusion and strife ran rampant across the country.
If artists could create beautiful images, objects and sounds, then all Americans could rise to their highest potential to bring the nation out of dark times. The “Nine for Nine” and Beyond Walls artists are exerting similar influence on downtowns today with the goal of attracting more people into city cores and sharing the inspiration provided by art.
As Lynn’s Raw Art Works and LynnArts have amply demonstrated, creativity and community improvement go hand in hand. Art inspires young people. It reinvigorates old people and it can be directly linked to economic revitalization efforts.
Sharing art publicly provides an open invitation for anyone and everyone to be creative and, in turn, improve communities and the world around them.
