Bohemians on the Breadline: The Radical Women Artists of Roosevelt’s New Deal

The extraordinary and unexamined history of women making radical art under Roosevelt’s New Deal

Like millions of Americans in the Great Depression, artists Alice Neel, Augusta Savage, Georgette Seabrooke, Lenore Thomas Straus, Elizabeth Olds, and Pablita Velarde embraced employment through President Roosevelt’s New Deal programs. The Federal Arts Project was one of the most unique social experiments in U.S. mass public funding of art meant for the public. Murals were painted, sculptures cast, and art classes were taught, as these talented artists gave back to the communities they lived in. They were also making radical art that challenged racism, inequality, and capitalism―despite pressure by bureaucrats to dictate the art produced. When the New Deal programs were dissolved at the end of the decade, much of that art was destroyed or forgotten. The surviving works were absorbed into the landscape of our everyday lives. Situated in housing projects, parks, and municipal buildings, this art is seldom understood as more than a cultural artifact. But these are labors of love by women artists who put themselves at risk during tumultuous times.

In vivid, eloquent prose backed up by archival research, Bohemians on the Breadline brings to life the intimate stories of these women―of tortured love affairs and fractured families, but also courageous activism and community mentorship, and above all their extraordinary art.