'Women of the WPA' In The Spotlight At New Georgia Museum Of Art Exhibit

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"Two of Them" by Mary Hutchinson, one of the female WPA artists featured at the Georgia Museum of Art.

In the 1930s, the government created a package of programs to add new jobs to the faltering economy. One of them was the Works Progress Administration, which hired people to work on a wide variety of public service projects, including public art.

Many famous male artists that came to define American art, such as Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko, got their start through the WPA. But a new exhibit at the Georgia Museum of Art in Athens seeks to shed light on a number of female WPA artists.

On Second Thought host Virginia Prescott speaks with Annelies Mondi.

In a new exhibit entitled "Women of the WPA," deputy director Annelies Mondi brought together prints and paintings by artists from all over the country, drawing from private collections as well as the extensive collection of WPA art at the Georgia Museum of Art. She joined the show from Athens to discuss the stories behind these artists and the distinctive markers of this historical art.

"Women of the WPA" is currently on display at the Georgia Museum of Art in Athens through Sept. 8. 

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