(Santa Fe, NM) Two great American ideas - the New Deal and the National Parks - will be celebrated during a benefit auction and party, "Look Where We Live," sponsored by National New Deal Preservation Association that will feature work by New Mexico artists. To highlight the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service and draw attention to their efforts to restore public art of the New Deal in New Mexico, the association asked artists and photographers to visit and get inspired by New Mexico's national park, monuments and historic sites. Many answered the call, donating their creations to the event, 5 - 8 PM, Oct. 21, at the Santa Fe Women's Club.
The event will raise funds for NNDPA's mission of restoring public art, murals, paintings and sculptures created under the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) that helped thousands of artists recover from the Great Depression. Tickets are "depression era prices by today's standards;" $20 for general admission, and $10 for participating artists and children 12 and under. Tickets are available online at www.newdeallegacy.org, by calling NNDPA at 505-473-3985, or at the door.
"The New Deal was about getting destitute Americans back to work, from artists to unskilled laborers, and that tremendous effort helped create some of the National Parks we have today," said NNDPA director Kathryn Flynn. "By contributing their work, artists are raising awareness of New Mexico's greatest natural treasures, and helping to preserve some of its artistic legacy."
The New Deal -- programs like the WPA, and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) established by President Franklin Roosevelt -- had a huge impact on New Mexico. By the mid-1930s, more than 50 percent of the state's population worked for the WPA, the CCC, and other government supported programs. More than 100 CCC camps spread across the state, including one near the state's only National Park, Carlsbad Caverns, and another at Bandelier National Monument.
The evening will include live and silent auctions of artistic renderings mostly of national parks, national monuments and historic sites; offerings of sweet and savory appetizers, and a no-host bar. Participating artists, both adult and student categories, will be awarded prizes for best entries. Other items will be auctioned as well, including weekend get-away trips and custom tours. A wealth of information will be available on the New Deal and National Parks:
- Film that features the many examples of New Deal art and architecture in Santa Fe;
- Presentation by renowned National Parks photographer David Halpern;
- Ken Burns' Roosevelt editor, Paul Barnes;
- Bandelier National Monument Superintendent Jason Lott will talk about the New Deal impact on Bandelier and the site's soon-to-be installed bronze statue of a CCC worker;
- A "Wine Walk." (Think cake walk, but with wine.)
The 18-year-old NNDPA New Mexico chapter has raised more than $561,000 towards identifying and refurbishing 146 murals, paintings and sculptures throughout New Mexico. Most recently, the organization underwrote the conservation of two murals painted by Edma Pierce in 1936, in the cafeteria of the New Mexico School for the Deaf. There is much more preservation work still to be done.