“A New Deal for Public Art in the Free State” - Kara Heitz, historian

6:30 p.m. Friday May 13, 2022

The state of Kansas is home to a number of New Deal-era federally funded artworks and arts programs created between 1934 and 1943. Historian and filmmaker Kara Heitz will speak about these and share her short documentary film about New Deal post office murals in Kansas. The film, “A New Deal for Public Art in the Free State,” explores the Kansas identity during the Great Depression and New Deal era through stories and conflicts about public art.

Register here

This program will also stream live on YouTube on the Kansas Historical Society channel.

Part of the “Conversations in the Studio” series at The Schweikher House in Schamburg, IL.

Kara Heitz, Lecturer in History, Dept. of Liberal Arts, Kansas City Art Institute will present her documentary film, “A New Deal for Public Art in the Free State,” that explores Kansas identity during the Great Depression and the New Deal era through stories and conflicts about public art. Martyl, former Schweikher House resident and designer of the Doomsday Clock, painted a mural for the post office in Russell, Kansas under this program, it was her first art commission. Screening of the film will be followed by a discussion with Kara about her research and her interest in producing a documentary film about Martyl.

More information can be found here: https://www.schweikherhouse.org/events

“A New Deal for Public Art in the Free State” is an official selection of the International Fine Arts Film Festival in Santa Barbara, CA, 2021

More information: https://internationalfineartsfilmfestival.com/

“A New Deal for Public Art in the Free State” is an official selection at the Myrtle Beach International Film Festival in Myrtle Beach, SC. (Original April 2020 festival dates were rescheduled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.)

For more information see http://www.myrtlebeachfilmfestival.com/

“A New Deal for Public Art in the Free State” is an official selection at the On Art Film Festival in Warsaw, Poland.

Note: The festival is now online because of Covid.

More information: http://onart.eu/

“A New Deal for Public Art in the Free State” is an official selection of Love Your Shorts Film Festival, Feb. 13-16, 2020. The film will screen as part of the Documentary group on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 3pm.

For more information see: http://www.loveyourshorts.com/

“A New Deal for Public Art in the Free State” will screen as an official selection of the Dam Short Film Festival, Feb. 13-16, 2020. The film will show as part of the Documentary A selection on Friday, Feb. 14 at 11 am in the Boulder Theatre.

For more information see: https://damshortfilm.org

“A New Deal for Public Art in the Free State” will screen as an official selection of the Worldwide Women’s Film Festival, Feb. 7-9, 2020. The film will be shown during the “Art and Adventure” block, starting at 2:13 pm in Theatre #2.

For more information see: https://wwfilmfestival.com/

“A New Deal for Public Art in the Free State” is an official selection of the Kansas International Film Festival (KIFF), which runs from Nov. 8-14 2019 in Overland Park, KS. Our movie screens Thursday, Nov. 14 at 7:30pm in the Glenwood Arts Theater. For more information see: https://www.kansasfilm.com/

“A New Deal for Public Art in the Free State” is an official selection of the Georgia Documentary Film Festival on Nov. 11, 2019 in Atlanta, GA. For more information see: https://filmfreeway.com/georgiadocumentaryfilmfestival

“A New Deal for Public Art in the Free State” is an official selection of the Tallgrass Film Festival, which runs from Oct. 16-20 2019 in Wichita, KS. Our movie screens Sunday, Oct. 20 at 3pm in the Ruffin 1 Theater. For more information see: https://tallgrassfilmfest.com/

Join us for a day of sessions with educators, historians, and community leaders as they discuss topics relating to New Deal era programs in Kansas. Topics will include, Frontier Park and the New Deal, Limestone WPA Projects in Ellis County, the Federal Writer's Project, and New Deal Arts Programs in Kansas. Come and enjoy one or all of the sessions and help us celebrate those who were a part of the New Deal!

A screening and discussion of “A New Deal for Public Art in the Free State” begins at 12:15pm.

For more information, see: https://hayslibrary.evanced.info/signup/Calendar

Art and regional identity collide in this documentary about government sponsored art. A New Deal For Public Art in the Free State examines conflicts that arose in Kansas when artists were hired to create murals and sculptures which depict American life during the Great Depression. Join Filmmakers Graham Carroll and Kara Heitz after the screening for a Q&A session. This event is free and open to the public.

For more information see: https://www.facebook.com/events/1121856071348741/

Screening and discussion of the documentary film “A New Deal for Public Art in the Free State”. You can view one of the artworks featured in the film - Albert T. Reid’s “The Mail Must Go Through” - at this venue. For more information see https://bit.ly/2SdMD2z

Screening and discussion of the documentary film “A New Deal for Public Art in the Free State”. For more information see https://washburn.edu/mulvane/calendar/events.html

Screening and discussion of the documentary film “A New Deal for Public Art in the Free State”. For more information see https://lawrence.bibliocommons.com/events/

EXACT TIME OF EVENT TBD. Screening and discussion of the documentary film “A New Deal for Public Art in the Free State”. For more information see https://www.facebook.com/pages/Brown-County-Historical-Society/

Screening and discussion of the documentary film “A New Deal for Public Art in the Free State”. For more information see https://bit.ly/2MIK1o9