Applied Design Block Printed Textiles, Volume VI
Applied Design Block Printed Textiles, Volume VI
WPA Milwaukee Handicraft Project
ca. 1940
Materials
Woodblock on cotton fabric
Size
25 x 40 inches
Racine Art Museum, WPA, Wisconsin Federal Art Project, Milwaukee Handicraft Project
About the artwork.
This textile, designed by Barbara Warren, was produced through the Milwaukee Handicraft Project (MHP)—a division of the Work Projects Administration (WPA) which ran from 1935 to 1942. The MHP employed over 5,000 women and people of color to make mostly household-related articles that could be sold to schools, libraries, and other public institutions. Warren was the blockprinting design foreman and pushed for an integrated workforce with forepersons and laborers sharing the same workspace.