Celebrating 50 Years of Art in Architecture: 1972 - 2022

Art has always served as a defining feature of great civic architecture, used to enhance the public expression of a nation's values and identity. The federal government has been commissioning art for federal buildings since the 1850s, when Congress hired Italian-born artist Constantino Brumidi to paint murals for the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. GSA was created in 1949 and, as the primary patron of federal architecture in the United States, bears a special responsibility to sustain and enrich the longstanding tradition of art for federal buildings. In response to White House initiatives of both the Kennedy and Nixon administrations, GSA's Art in Architecture Program was established in 1972 to commission American artists to integrate their creative contributions in meaningful ways with an equally vibrant federal architecture. The first completed Art in Architecture commission was unveiled in October 1974: Alexander Calder's Flamingo at the Federal Center in Chicago. Since then, GSA has commissioned more than 500 artworks for federal buildings nationwide. These artworks enhance the civic meaning of federal architecture and showcase the vibrancy of American visual arts for all those who use the buildings. Together, the art and architecture of federal buildings create a lasting cultural legacy for the people of the United States. This gallery highlights a sampling of 50 Art in Architecture commissions of the past 50 years.