WASHINGTON, D.C.—At a time when the people and governing bodies of the United States are debating the value of supporting arts endeavors during economic hardship, the Smithsonian American Art Museum is setting out to remind us what that kind of support can look like.

From February 27 through January 3 of next year, the museum is exhibiting a selection of 56 paintings funded by the Public Works of Art Program in the dark economic days following the Great Depression.

The show, "1934: A New Deal for Artists," which will tour the United States for three years, celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Public Works of Art Program created by the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Intended to assist unemployed professional artists by paying them to create works depicting "the American Scene" that would embellish public buildings, the program lasted only six months, from mid-December 1933 to June 1934.

“As the Smithsonian American Art Museum prepares to open ‘1934: A New Deal for Artists,’ the nation is engaged in a great discussion about how to restore confidence during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression,” said Elizabeth Broun, director of the museum. “One contentious issue is whether and how cultural initiatives should play a role in government recovery efforts. This exhibition, which focuses on the first U.S. government program ever to provide direct support for artists, is relevant to that discussion. The legacy of New Deal cultural programs seems indisputable today as we cherish and mine the resources these ‘workers’ left us.”