Should Obama Revamp the WPA With His Artists Corp?

To learn more about this WPA image visit: (http://newdeal.feri.org)

Recently, I was in Facebook and came across a post by Kelly Pope at Globatron.org about President-elect Obama entitled "The New Artist Corp".

I read this post and really got excited! The author asks how will the country respond to this Artist Corp idea. I think that artists, in general, are ready and willing to meet this call. Artists are already volunteering in schools and community centers all over the country. There are art councils that already employ artists to work in schools for a meager fare. That's true coast to coast..from Jacksonville, Fl to the Monterey Peninusula, CA. 

So what will be different about the Obama plan? 

And how will it help the already struggling organizations across the country keep the arts alive in their local communities?

A new Artist Corp is a great idea.

I would hope that this plan would be modeled after Franklin Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration (WPA). That program employed tens of thousands of artists while it existed. It kept many of them afloat during the Depression. Maybe Obama's team could improve upon this model.

Here's a good link about about the WPA Mural Project in Harlem, NY. The WPA was a crucial source of source of support for Harlem artists during the Depression.

When I was a kid growing up in New Jersey in the 1980's, the schools I attended my all had art, music and P.E classes as part of the curriculum. It wasn't EXTRA..it was part of the required class schedule. I don't understand why many schools today at best need the PTA to fund their arts programs. 

Where is the money going? And what has changed over the years?

For more information about the Artist Corp see the Christian Science Monitor article.

 What are your thoughts on this topic?