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4-2154 FEDERAL WORKS AGENCY WOR.X PROJECTS ADMINISTBAT~ON For Release to 1-:ewspa,pers Sunday , .August 11, 1940 HARRINGTON INVITES WOFLD 1 S FAIR VISITORS TO SEE WPA E:X:EIBIT Colonel F . C. Harrington, Co:nmissi oner of Work Projects, today urged all visitors to the Hew York World ' s Fair this summer to include the WPA exhibit in the Federal \forks Agency Building in their sightseeing itinera.r;r . 11 l~o one can witness this impressj_ve dj_splay of what the unem1)loyed have created in exchange for their work relief wages without b e ing forcefully i!:lpressed by the impor t ance of a work :program to our natfonal woll- being, 11 Colonel Harrineton declared . "That the morale and t ho pl:.ysical welfare of tho unom::;loyc-ct have been sustr.incd through the •,,:ork prograrr. is gcncrall~r recognized. What is not so well known is that t hese samG uno:.1ployec_ lr~borors, ar tisans and :profcssioni>.l wo rkors h2. ve made poworf11l nddi tions to our national wo1:,lth. schools . They hc.'lvo built ro ads , 'b ri clgcs , ::i.irports o..nd Tho:r hn.vo improved the physical plont of our Arrny r· nd N:::.vy . They have tf'ug:U the illi tora to to road [llld wr i to; brought mccUc2..l and nursing care to the dos ti tute, arid ho[),l thful recreation to millions of slum children . 11 The World's Fair exhibit mo.kes t hose fr,cts strikingly r:,nd dramr,,ticnlly clc[).r . An hour I s visit to this buildin:; vdll m1,.ole the Visitor to evalu.'.\te the work which the unemployed hc:-.. ve done , ns well as wh[',,t tho;r arc C[tp.'.'.ble of doing in a time of omorge:1.cy . 11 Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 4-2154 - 2 - Approxi matel y 500 , 000 persons alre.3-ll.y have vi sited t he WPA exhibit since the opening of the Fair , Colonol Harring ton added . This year ' s exhibit is houserl in the sE:.me building with other agencies co mprising the Federa l Works Agency . The g&neral dosi~n of the building is that of a horseshoe , with the open portion in the con tor developed with flowers a.'1d shrubbery as a ga rden . Within this area there is a bandshell · and seats comprising an outdoor au.d.i torium. :-row by t~1c Throughout the day. musical pcrforme.nccs arc gi vcn Yorlr Symphonic :Band and po:rYJ.lar d:m co orchcs trn s of the New York WPA Music Projoct. I n addition , there ?ra r ogu.ln.rly scheclul8d d?nce recitals b~r WP.A folk dnr:..cc groups , m d tho :'._)Crformo..ncos of the now- fFtmous Dr . Zip , an old-time circus clown who directs his peculiar t a lents to juvenile health instruction . Within tho build ing arc a r.umbor of di s:pl,qs d:'.lpicting va rious typ ps of '\•!PA projects . being 11 Work 11 -- 11 Wo!'k The theme of this :;e[l.r 1 s exhibit is the righ t of evor;/ Americar. , 11 "Work builds batt e r comqunitics , 11 "Wo r k , the basis of cu.lturo, 11 etc . -- many of the eY.hi'bi ts consist of incti vidUD.l workors actua.lly performing their project tasks. Other n ctivi ti es arc depicted by :pnG togra~hs , models a:i.d d.ioro...rnas . One of th10 most i::1tcrosting of tho latte:..· shows LaGuardia Airp ort minia t'.lre . and n, onl~r :i mile d i sk.nt fror.1 tho fair si tc -- in fc.,i t hful The diorc'.ma is supplemon t8d "oy f our l<1rgc movinJ m0dels rcc::irdod :1.::crrn.tior. which e:x:plai:1S the detrd ls of t }10 airfield and its construction. Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 4-2154 - 3 "' The WPA Art Program occupies a sepc,ra te building nnd hns n,ssen,bled an exhibition of mode r n Ame ric::m nrt wh ich has r ece ivod ~ar m praise fr om critics . Pn.rt of ths buil d ing i s devo t ed to wo r ~,;: cone -D;r workers on WPA art p r oje cts throu 6 ~1out t :10 co1ntry whil e the r em"-inde r is g iven ove r to showings o,rrn:1ged b;y o t he r coop r) r n tin 6 ar t groups . An outs t m1ding fe~, tnre of t ho exh ibit this yon.r .:'. r e the wo rkst.opG i n whi cr~ p:'..inter ~, scul;it ,, :cs, print rnD.kcrs m,d ot:hers from th8 New York City Art Pr ojec t pursue the ir r cgulnr r:.ctivitic s in full view of vi sit0 r s . Guidos c,rc on rwnd t o explaia the vnrious prn ces ~;c s . 0 - - - - Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY