Treasury Section of Painting & Sculpture 

     Following the lapse of the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) in June 1934, former PWAP Administrator Edward Bruce looked for a true opportunity for government to sponsor and subsidize art.  Bruce enlisted the help of Mrs. Elinor Morgenthau, wife of Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, and her husband to promote a new Treasury Department art program to the President and Eleanor Roosevelt.  Bruce advocated for a Division of Fine Arts in the Treasury that would be funded by existing Treasury and Public Works Administration (PWA) funds.  The proposal would: 

1) not require Congressional approval because funds were already designated in the respective agency budgets, 

2) be based on actual talent as opposed to need because it wasn't structured as a relief project, and 

3) extend beyond art and sculpture to music and theater.  

     Bruce asked President Roosevelt to mandate that 1% of the cost of every building in the Treasury's 233 building inventory--post offices, federal courts, marine hospitals, executive offices--be directed to "embellishments" for the structures.  At that time, the Treasury Department had a budget of $144,618,000 for its buildings.  Bruce also requested $100,000 from the PWA for senior staff and the administration of pending PWAP projects.  

     While Treasury Secretary Morgenthau concurred with Bruce's plan, Harold Ickes, WPA Administrator, countered that the building program should be in the WPA as opposed to the Treasury.  On May 18, 1934, President Roosevelt determined that the program would remain in the Treasury Department; however, he only authorized enough money for the program to operate until July 1, 1934.  Bruce's vision of a full-blown arts program would not materialize.  

     In September 1934, Morgenthau and Ickes agreed on a scaled back art program.  Former PWAP staff in Washington, D.C. would manage the funds for decorating new Federal buildings, and the Treasury art unit would manage the decorations.  (Previously, the building architect was responsible for decorations.)  On October 16, 1934, Morgenthau created the Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture (TSPS) within the Treasury Department's Procurement Division, serving alongside the existing Branch of Supply and the Public Buildings Branch.  Edward Bruce served as the first TSPS Administrator with Edward Rowen and Forbes Watson as Executive Assistants/Superintendents.

     Morgenthau's initial order stipulated that the TSPS was to provide "the best quality art available" for Federal buildings.  The art would be less ornate than that in previous buildings and feature local themes and artists.  However, the order failed to include the 1% budget mandate suggested by Bruce; it also failed to mandate the inclusion of paintings and sculptures in every new building.  Anonymous jury competitions would be held, whenever possible, to determine who would receive the commissions.  

     The first large and important competition was for the new Department of Justice and Post Office Department Buildings in Washington, D.C.  The jury consisted of six painters, three sculptors, and the two architects of the buildings.  Over the course of three days they reviewed 315 mural sketches and 62 sculpture models.  Eight artists and eight sculptors were awarded contracts.  In addition, 82 painters and 16 sculptors who had been invited to design received contracts for other post offices.  (See the accompanying letter sent to sculptor Chaim Gross about the competition; he was awarded a contract and created "Alaska Snowshoe Mail Carrier" to represent the northernmost location served by the U.S. Postal Department in 1936.)       

     As configured, the TSPS reviewed architectural plans for buildings, suggested artwork, and advocated for changes to plans that lacked suitable space for murals and sculptures.  In October 1938, Morgenthau issued another order that changed the name of TSPS to the Section of Fine Arts and made it a permanent section of the Treasury Department.  Its status changed again in July 1939 when the Treasury Building program, including the Section of Fine Arts, became part of the Federal Works Agency.  From July 1939 to April 1940, the Section of Fine Arts conducted one of its most famous national competitions, "The Forty-Eight State Competition," to design murals for a designated post office in every state.

     In ongoing bureaucratic competition with the soon to be established Treasury Art Relief Project and the Federal Art Project, the Section of Fine Arts would continue operations until July 1943.  During its operation, the Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture, including its iteration as the Section of Fine Arts, awarded approximately 1,400 contracts for art--including over 1,000 murals and over 260 sculptures for Federal buildings--at a cost of $2,571,000. 

     Notable TSPS artists included Humbert Albrizio, Edward Biberman, Edwin Boyd Johnson, Doris Lee, Ben Shawn, Bernarda Bryson Shawn, Harry Sternberg, and Julius Woeltz.