The ArtRage Gallery will stage a performance of a play about women writers of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) entitled Mixed Relief as part of an exhibition of activist feminist art titled, 100 YEARS OF WOMEN ROCKIN’ THE WORLD. This performance will culminate in a facilitated round table discussion concerning the present condition of federal and state arts funding. The play is directed by Milton Loayza, director and founder of “Autopista del Sur” theater company together with local activist Rebecca Fuentes and will feature a cast of local activists and community members featuring: Mable Wilson, Deborah Morales, Pat Rector, Margarita Pignataro, Debra Richardson, Mary Marquis and Barbara Schloss.  The discussion on the present state of funding for the arts will be facilitated by Nancy Keefe Rhodes.

The WPA was a federal jobs program designed to stimulate the U.S. economy during the Great Depression of the 1930’s. The government recognized that artists had valuable skills to contribute towards the recovery, and the WPA employed over 40,000 artists at its peak.  The plays, music, posters, murals, monuments, parks and amphitheaters that they created are still enjoyed by the public today.

Saluting the women of the WPA is a way to remind the public that there was an amazing artistic outpouring when our federal government made a serious investment in arts jobs in the 1930’s. Many artists are calling on President Obama to include artists in his economic stimulus plans. The WPA anniversary reminds us that now, as in the Great Depression, our resilience; creativity and future sustainability are riding on the stories that shape us.

This production is Free to the Public due to the support of