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In the mid-1930s, the United States remained at the center of a global economic depression. In an effort to provide economic relief to citizens who were having trouble finding work President Franklin Delano Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration (WPA) as part of his New Deal. He sought to put as many unemployed Americans back to work as possible and to buoy the morale of the citizens. Several months later, a subdivision of the WPA called the Federal Art Project (FAP) was developed in order to assist struggling artists.

During its years of operation, the FAP of the WPA hired hundreds of artists who collectively created more than 100,000 paintings and murals and over 18,000 sculptures to be found in municipal buildings, schools, and hospitals in all of the continental 48 states. Additionally, nearly 100 community art centers throughout the country provided art classes for children and developing artists.