About
untold
from MFA thesis to an ongoing personal research agenda
the project
need and background
Most people are familiar with the Works Progress Administration (WPA), an FDR-era solution to ease the hardships of the nation due to the Great Depression, even if only slightly. Many may even be familiar with the posters designed and displayed as part of the WPA’s work. The most well-known are likely those featuring some of our nation’s national parks. But what is known about those who actually designed those posters? Unfortunately, many of their stories have been untold or forgotten.
Hardly any research has been conducted about the poster designers themselves, and none looks beyond their time with the WPA. These designers are important and they need and deserve to be remembered not simply for their contributions to the Federal Art Project but for design history in general.
It is an unfortunate fact that many women’s contributions to history often go unacknowledged and untold. This is essential and significant research into the women poster designers of the WPA. This research goes beyond the WPA’s relatively brief period of time. Naturally, the only way to understand who they were as designers and what their contributions to the field of design were is to look at their lives and work as a whole. These women were poster designers for the WPA, yes, but they were much more than that.
the project
presenting the research
As mentioned above, my initial research focused on three women poster designers of the WPA: Vera Bock, Katherine Milhous, and Dorothy Waugh. The research explored beyond their time in the WPA. The goal was to understand who they were as designers and their contributions to the design field. Telling a more complete story so they are not lost to history is fundamentally important. This research included gathering physical objects from their lives and careers. The content consisted of a considerable number of visual artifacts: images, books, posters, illustrations, and additional assorted design work. The nature of this content lent itself to display.
To present my initial research, I designed and mounted an exhibition featuring a selection of the visual content I had compiled. The design elements for the exhibition included a visual identity, associated print and digital collateral, and educational didactics. The objects displayed were representative of the design work the three women created throughout their careers.
The second way I chose to present my thesis research was with this website, which was created specifically to document my past research and the ongoing work to document these and other women poster designers of the WPA in the future. This website serves multiple functions, including, but not limited to, providing a record of all the materials I found related to each designer, not all of which were included in the exhibition on campus. The website also allows my research agenda to continue beyond my thesis defense. With the hope that in the future more will be known about these untold designers who were part of a pivotal moment in American poster design. While this website is
only one of the ways this project and
research will continue; it serves the
the unique role of documenting the project, both past and present.
This project has been made possible in part thanks to the University of Baltimore Research Council'sTurner Research and Travel Awards.
connect
For any inquiries or to start a conversation about untold designers, please get in touch.