We preserve the legacy of federal art.
Our collection is your collection. These artworks were created by and belong to the American people.
The Fine Arts Program:
- Preserves access to the nation's cultural heritage
- Fosters an appreciation of the importance of creative freedom
- Inspires future generations to create their own artistic expressions of American democracy
The Fine Arts Collection is one of the nation's oldest and largest public art collections. It consists of mural and easel paintings, sculptures, architectural and environmental artworks, as well as prints and other works on paper dating from the 1850s to the present.
These civic artworks are displayed in federal buildings and courthouses across the country, and more than 23,000 easel paintings, prints, and small-scale sculptures created during the New Deal are on long-term loan to museums and other non-profit institutions across the United States.
These artworks were commissioned to adorn and enhance civic architecture, and they were funded by the American people. Therefore, these artworks belong to the nation, and are held in public trust for current and future generations.
COLLECTION HISTORY
The Fine Arts Collection traces its origins to the mid-nineteenth century, during a time (from 1852 until 1939) when the Department of the Treasury's Office of the Supervising Architect administered the construction of federal buildings.
Early Works
The earliest works in the collection date to the 1850s, when the government commissioned Auguste de Frasse to create bas reliefs for the Marble Hall of the new U.S. Custom House in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Following the devastation of the American Civil War, the country embarked on a period of tremendous growth and increased wealth in the 1880s. The artists and architects who designed the next generation of public buildings had been inspired by the Beaux-Arts monuments they had seen while studying abroad.
The numerous custom houses, courthouses, post offices, and federal buildings constructed at the turn of the twentieth century include paintings, sculptures, and architectural ornamentation that reflect those artists' renewed interest in classicism and their use of symbolic and allegorical figures to represent the activities of the government.
The New Deal
During the New Deal era of the 1930s, the growth of the federal government led once again to an extensive building campaign. To adorn these buildings, provide employment, and make art available to communities large and small, the government administered four separate public art programs:
- Public Works of Art Project
- Federal Art Project
- Treasury Relief Art Project
- Section of Fine Arts
From 1934 to 1943, these programs proved unprecedented in both their size and scope. By their close, the projects had generated hundreds of thousands of civic artworks.
1950 to Today
"Where appropriate, fine art should be incorporated into the designs of federal buildings with emphasis on the work of living American artists."
Through the 1950s, the commissioning of artwork for new federal buildings was overseen by out Public Buildings Service (PBS), in cooperation with the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts in Washington, D.C.
Our Art in Architecture program was launched in 1972 and continues today. Its predecessor, the Fine Arts in New Federal Buildings program, was first established in 1963, in response to the recommendations of President John F. Kennedy's Ad Hoc Committee on Federal Office Space. The committee's report contained the Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture, which states that "where appropriate, fine art should be incorporated into the designs of federal buildings with emphasis on the work of living American artists."
For today’s Art in Architecture commissions, we reserve at least one-half of one percent of the estimated construction cost of each new federal building or major renovation project to commission art.
These newly commissioned artworks, created by both established and emerging American artists, are diverse in style and media. They include paintings and sculptures, as well as landscape- and electronic-based artworks, textiles, ceramics, stained glass, and photography.
Together, these thousands of historical and contemporary artworks in the Fine Arts Collection chronicle the rich and complex history of the United States, enhance the experiences of citizens interacting with their government, and constitute an enduring and irreplaceable cultural legacy for the nation.
