Art for the People: WPA-Era Prints from the Ponemone-Frommeyer Collection

Spitaleri and Calvert Galleries | September 8, 2026 – January 10, 2027 Member Reception: Friday, November 6, 2026; 4 PM – 6 PM Unlike the vibrant landscapes of From Sea to Shining Sea, the black-and-white WPA-era prints in Art for the People from the Ponemone-Frommeyer Collection show a different America following the Great Depression. Post-Crash America reached its lowest point in 1933; the unemployment rate was nearly 25%. In 1935, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt sought to get people back into the workforce. He proposed the creation of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) as part of his New Deal initiative. Until its dissolution in 1943, the WPA employed more than 8.5 million people nationwide, resulting in public infrastructure such as roads, schools, and bridges. The program also supported literacy and art programs through its Federal Art Project (FAP). Several works in Art for the People—such as Smelting Plant (1937) by Albert Abramovitz—were specifically produced for the FAP, while other works were made by artists active at the time. They provided an unvarnished view of social, economic, and political issues and documented the rural landscape in relation to the growth of cities and industries. Drawn entirely from the Baltimore collection of Scott Ponemone and Michael Frommeyer, Art for the People contains nearly 30 prints—many of which are promised gifts to the Academy Art Museum—and illustrates the important role private collectors play in the growth of museum collections. Image: Albert Abramovitz (Riga, Latvia, 1879 – 1963, Seaford, New York), Smelting Plant, 1937, wood engraving on paper, 8 1/8 x 12 1/8 inches, edition of 28. Promised gift of the Ponemone and Frommeyer Revocable Trust.