Facts about WPA Posters
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Unemployed muralists hired through the WPA created over 2,500 large-scale public murals on government buildings, schools, and post offices from 1935 to 1943.
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Dorothea Lange's WPA photography project documented migrant farm workers across California from 1935 to 1939, producing over 3,500 images that became foundational to American documentary photography.
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Over 900 different WPA poster designs addressed disease prevention and public health campaigns, with tuberculosis awareness and syphilis prevention being among the most frequently illustrated topics.
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Artist Lester Beall created over 200 WPA posters between 1936 and 1941, revolutionizing American poster design through his modernist approach to public health and safety messaging.
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The Library of Congress holds over 2,000 original WPA poster artworks in its collection, preserving designs created by artists including Lester Beall and Abram Games during the New Deal era.
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Vibrant color lithography techniques allowed WPA poster artists to produce bold, eye-catching designs that cost less than five dollars per thousand prints to manufacture during the 1930s and 1940s.
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Approximately 35 million WPA posters were distributed throughout the United States between 1935 and 1943, reaching rural communities and urban centers with messages on disease prevention, employment opportunities, and civic participation.
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Master printer Ben Shahn designed over 30 iconic WPA posters in the 1930s, becoming one of the program's most celebrated visual artists despite initially training as a lithographer.
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Between 1935 and 1943, the WPA Federal Art Project employed approximately 200,000 artists who created over 200,000 posters promoting public health, labor rights, and cultural programs.