Description
After the Great Depression, the American Government enacted a multitude of programs through the New Deal to provide relief, recovery, and reform to the struggling country. One of these programs was the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP) that created murals and sculptures for federal buildings and housing projects as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The WPA would “fund patriotic art projects in an effort to rally dispirited American citizens.” Some of these murals can still be seen up in Post Offices around the country, where they depict scenes ranging from local beauty and splendor to historical events and geography. Imagine a new Treasury Relief Art Project is enacted to fill up blank school hallways or public square walls with a mural – photographic, painted or projected – with “patriotic art projects” – projects that reflect current events, issues, or stories affecting either your community or the country as a whole. In this Meridian Stories Challenge, your challenge is to research the history of TRAP as it relates to this concept of ‘patriotism’; research what this word means today to your team and the community around you; and then design a contemporary TRAP installation. If possible, create the installation, although that is not required for this Challenge. The Meridian Stories video is a documentary of this creation process that is designed to be screened by town or school administrators that have the funds to support the creation of this mural. It should cover a) a summary of the origins of this initiative (TRAP) along with historical interpretations of patriotism during the 1930s; b) what patriotism means to you; c) your interviews with the community; d) your creative design process; and e) your final mural design. Keep in mind that you don’t have to create the actual mural.
