The WPA, or Works Progress Administration

(later renamed the Work Projects Administration), was a massive New Deal program launched in 1935 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression. Its goal? Put Americans back to work.

While it’s best known for building infrastructure—roads, bridges, schools, parks—it also created jobs for artists, writers, musicians, and actors through its Federal Project Number One. This included:

• Federal Art Project – Hired artists to create murals, posters, and public artworks promoting public health, tourism, education, and more—designed with bold style and strong messaging, often inspired by modernist design trends of the time. They’re now iconic pieces of American design history.

• Federal Writers’ Project – Employed writers to document American life, including guidebooks and oral histories

• Federal Theatre Project – Produced plays and performances across the country

• Federal Music Project – Organized concerts and music education