Fireside Chat to discuss Depression-era artists April 13

Historian Paul Sparrow and woodcut artist Fred Dylla will present a Fireside Chat titled “How Artists Survived the Great Depression” at 5 p.m., Sunday, April 13 at, at the Lewes Public Library, 111 Adams Ave., Lewes. The event will also stream live online via Zoom.

The New Deal policies put in place by Franklin Roosevelt sought to alleviate the suffering of millions of unemployed Americans by putting them back to work. These included jobs for tens of thousands of artists, including musicians, actors, dancers, writers, photographers, painters and sculptors. But they also served a larger purpose—to give all Americans access to art and culture.

“Our talk is a lesson for today,” said Dylla. “Amid the Great Depression, our government found the means to pay artists to produce artworks that would be widely shown and hopefully preserved in publicly available locations. These artworks were and still are as valuable to the nation’s soul as the brick and mortar works that were created during the New Deal era.”

Registration is required. To sign up for online or in-person attendance, go to lewes.lib.de.us or call 302-645-2733.

Sparrow is a writer, historical consultant and the former director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. As founder of the Delaware White-line Woodcut Guild, Dylla teaches introductory and advanced art workshops.