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The Roswell Museum Federal Art Center

Acceptance/Rejection Form for Local Flower Show, 1938

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3. Frank Standhardt, Elevation for the Roswell Museum, September 1936
6. Working on the colcha curtain 1937
8. Colcha pattern 1 Introduced by the Spanish, Colcha embroidery is a traditional New Mexican art form characterized by the use of bright, colorful patterns. During the WPA era, the Federal Art Project in New Mexico encouraged colcha projects as part of its preservation in regional crafts. This pattern is one of several templates in the Roswell Museum archive, although its exact use remains unknown, as it does not match the patterns in the museum's stage curtain. Courtesy of the Roswell Museum and Art Center archive.
9. Colcha pattern 2 Introduced by the Spanish, Colcha embroidery is a traditional New Mexican art form characterized by the use of bright, colorful patterns. During the WPA era, the Federal Art Project in New Mexico encouraged colcha projects as part of its preservation in regional crafts. This pattern is one of several templates in the Roswell Museum archive, although its exact use remains unknown, as it does not match the patterns in the museum's stage curtain. Courtesy of the Roswell Museum and Art Center archive.
10. Colcha pattern 3 Introduced by the Spanish, Colcha embroidery is a traditional New Mexican art form characterized by the use of bright, colorful patterns. During the WPA era, the Federal Art Project in New Mexico encouraged colcha projects as part of its preservation in regional crafts. This pattern is one of several templates in the Roswell Museum archive, although its exact use remains unknown, as it does not match the patterns in the museum's stage curtain. Courtesy of the Roswell Museum and Art Center archive.
11. Colcha pattern 4 Introduced by the Spanish, Colcha embroidery is a traditional New Mexican art form characterized by the use of bright, colorful patterns. During the WPA era, the Federal Art Project in New Mexico encouraged colcha projects as part of its preservation in regional crafts. This pattern is one of several templates in the Roswell Museum archive, although its exact use remains unknown, as it does not match the patterns in the museum's stage curtain. Courtesy of the Roswell Museum and Art Center archive.
12. Colcha pattern 5 Introduced by the Spanish, Colcha embroidery is a traditional New Mexican art form characterized by the use of bright, colorful patterns. During the WPA era, the Federal Art Project in New Mexico encouraged colcha projects as part of its preservation in regional crafts. This pattern is one of several templates in the Roswell Museum archive, although its exact use remains unknown, as it does not match the patterns in the museum's stage curtain. Courtesy of the Roswell Museum and Art Center archive.
13. Roswell Museum, Stage and Curtain, ca. 1937 Central view of the stage with colcha curtain. The curtain features a pattern of Maltese crosses capped with stylized roses, and eight double-headed eagles. The eagle motif, initially taken from the Habsburg double eagle, is more specifically referencing Maximilian I's coat of arms. The color scheme included shades of tan, red, green, yellow, and brown. The whereabouts of the curtain remain unknown. Courtesy of the Roswell Museum and Art Center archive.
16. Ladies Lounge, ca. 1937-1938
17. Ladies Lounge, ca. 1937-1938
18. Roswell Museum Office, 1937
19. Eddie Delgado, Tin Chandelier, 1937
20. Left to Right: Russell Vernon Hunter, Henriette Wyeth, and Paul Horgan, December 1937 Left to right: Russell Vernon Hunter, Henriette Wyeth, and Paul Horgan most likely sitting in front of Wyeth's painting "Victorian Arrangement," which was included in the December 1937 exhibition checklist. Although the museum opened in October, the official dedication did not take place until December, after the interior had been finished. Peter Hurd did not attend the opening event because he was working on a fresco in Albuquerque at the time. Courtesy of the Roswell Museum and Art Center archive.
21. Looking into the Main Gallery, with Exhibition 241, Index of American Design, on view.
22. Checklist for Peter Hurd and Henriette Wyeth Exhibition, December 1937
23. Henriette Wyeth and Peter Hurd exhibition, December 1937
24. Job Description for Rainey Woolsey
25. Work Hours for Rainey Woolsey Compared to today's 40-hour week minimum, staff members at the Roswell Museum worked fewer hours in the 1930s, reflecting limited budgets and funding. In the case of Gallery Attendant Rainey Woolsey, 30 hours a week, or 120 hours per month, was the maximum amoung allotted, with the workday lasting from 1:30-5:30 pm. The first hour would be spent preparing reports , with the gallery opening to the public at 2. Courtesy of the Roswell Museum and Art Center archive.
26. Research topics for Rainey Woolsey, 1938
27. Woolsey Report, page 1 Staff members were expected to submit reports reviewing their activities. This report comes from Rainey Woolsey, who served as Gallery Attendant between 1937 and 1938. Transcription: "The Gallery at the Roswell Museum has a new exhibition on drawing showing a variety in style and execution in ink, pencil, crayon, and chalk. This exhibition, assembled in California, is one of many arranged for the federal art centers by (illeg) in Washington, DC. In this show, Nevada and California artists are represented. Several pictures represent (something) for decoration of public buildings, those by Helen Foris and Dorothy Puccinelli are sketches for a mural....
28. Report from Rainey Woolsey, Page 2 Transcription: (First sentence illegible) “This group of drawings will hang until December 15th. Visitors to the gallery will find (illeg) “Roswell Museum Federal Art Center the First Year” by Paul Horgan. Captain Horgan won the Harper Prize of 1933 for “The Fault of Angels”, a novel. He is the author of “Main Line West”, “A Lamp on the Plains”, “The Return of the Weed”, “The Habit of Empire” and many other publications. He is librarian of New Mexico Institute at Roswell, one of state advisors for the Federal Art Project of N.M. Paul Horgan has been active in organizing Roswell Museum Federal Art Center and constantly vigilant in promoting its interests—thru the " (see page 3 for continuation)
29. Report from Rainey Woolsey, Page 3 Transcription: (First sentence illegible) “…the above article is reprinted from the Golden Anniversary of the Roswell Daily Record for October 3, 1938. Captain Horgan is chairman of the recently organized “Roswell Friends of Art” this function of this group is to further the interest of and bring together those who might enjoy art activities at Roswell Museum Federal Art Center. On Wednesday nite December 7 the Archaeological and Historical Society younger members will sponsor a game party at the museum. The idea being to bring your table and game for fun and the museum. Pay a small fee—refreshments will be served during the evening.” (see page 4 for conclusion)
30. Report from Rainey Woolsey, Page 4 Transcription: “There will be a meeting open to the public Monday nite at 7:30 o’clock at the Roswell Museum for the purpose of discussing the work shop plan and to enroll those interested. Mr. Marfyak and Mr. Slifkin artists from the New York City Federal Art Project are here for several months to establish and teach classes for children and adults. Mr. Marfyak and Mr. Slifkin will be present Monday nite and invite your cooperation-” (end of document)
31. Note from Second Grade Class at East Side School to Rainey Woolsey, n.d. This note represents one of the few direct responses from visitors to the museum, in this instance a class of second graders. Rainey Woolsey worked at the Roswell Museum as a gallery attendant between 1937 and 1938. Transcription: "Dear Mrs. Woolsey, We liked our visit at the museum. We learned many interesting things. We thank you for inviting us. Second Grade East Side School." Courtesy of the Roswell Museum and Art Center archive.
32. FAP Exhibition #241, Index of American Design, with local antiques exhibit, 1938
33. Acceptance/Rejection Form for Local Flower Show, 1938
34. Letter from J.R. Whiteman to Roland Dickey, 1938 Whiteman was a local artist who painted posters and other signage for the Roswell Museum. Dickey would supply him supplies and instructions. Transcription: "Dear Roland, am sending some of the posters--suppose this is the right size? Since I have moved I can't find any more paper--may be out. Can you send 12 cards for the last posters. Hope these will suffice--or sumpin! Sincerely, JRW." Courtesy of the Roswell Museum and Art Center archive.
35. Side Gallery with religious art exhibition, 1938-1939 In response to complaints about dominating the primary exhibition space, director Roland Dickey curated an exhibition of religious art in the smaller gallery, allowing local sponsors to work in the main space. As director, Roland Dickey often felt frustrated with the sponsor's differing interests, and expressed a sense of self-satisfaction in a December 30, 1938 letter to State FAP Director Russell Vernon Hunter: “The room looks nicer than it ever has, and they [the Sponsors] like it. ” As an example of the often one-sided nature of the archive, we do not have any correspondence from the sponsors themselves explaining how they felt about the gallery spaces. Since everything we know about them comes through the perspective of the FAP staff, we are getting a vantage that privileges FAP objectives rather than local ones. Courtesy of the Roswell Museum and Art Center archive.
36. New Mexico Military Institute cadets attending an exhibition of Daumier Lithographs, 1939
41. Government Bill of Lading for Drawings from California
45. Note from Second Grade Class at East Side School to Rainey Woolsey, n.d. This note represents one of the few direct responses from visitors to the museum, in this instance a class of second graders. Rainey Woolsey worked at the Roswell Museum as a gallery attendant between 1937 and 1938. Transcription: "Dear Mrs. Woolsey, We liked our visit at the museum. We learned many interesting things. We thank you for inviting us. Second Grade East Side School." Courtesy of the Roswell Museum and Art Center archive.
46. Visitor Sign-In Book Page, October 29, 1938
47. Left to Right: Tomas Sapiens and Gregorio Dominguez, 1939
53. Cover for promotional brochure about the Roswell Museum, 1939
61. Martha Kennedy, Melrose Art Center Holiday Card
62. Workshop Announcement, 1938-1939 Although education constituted a significant part of the Federal Community Art Center Project, the Roswell Museum did not begin offering classes until late 1938, as the original building included no classrooms. During the first year, the museum provided educational activities through lectures and gallery talks while it secured several spaces around town for classroom use. By late 1938, the museum's first studio instructors had arrived, John Marfyak and Abraham Slifkin, both on loan from the New York Art Project. They remained in Roswell until the spring of 1939. Courtesy of the Roswell Museum and Art Center archive.
63. Student with artwork, 1939
64. Request for Treatment of Injured Employees
67. Basic Museum layout
68. Founders Gallery, 2018
70. Aston Collection of the American West
71. Goddard workshop
72. The Robert H. Goddard Planetarium

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Exhibitions
The exhibition schedule included traveling shows assembled by the Federal Art Project (FAP), and locally-organized installations. For a list of exhibitions shown at the Roswell Museum, click here.

Shows rotated quickly, with the main gallery usually featuring at least two FAP-organized exhibitions per month. Exhibitions were often combined, allowing visitors to see different types of work at once. FAP shows usually traveled to Roswell by train, and art centers adhered to a specific schedule to ensure that works reached their destinations on time.

Paperwork accompanied every exhibition and included checklists, shipping receipts, and schedules. Although the federal government usually paid for transportation, individual art centers were responsible for ensuring that shows shipped to the next destination on time.

The exhibitions included an eclectic range of materials, from contemporary artwork produced by FAP workshops, to historical lithographs and photographic reproductions. While some of these shows featured historical materials from the Library of Congress or Tulane University, most of these traveling exhibitions highlighted contemporary work from the Federal Art Project. California and New York appear in the schedule several times, although the Roswell Museum also exhibited FAP works from Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Louisiana. The museum exhibited the Index of American Design, a compendium of hand-painted renderings of antique furniture, folk art, and other examples of American material culture, at least three times between 1938 and 1942. The museum also showed children's art on several occasions, reflecting the FAP's interest in sharing and promoting its art education initiatives. In 1930s Roswell, a museum visitor could view contemporary lithographs produced in New York, antiques from local collectors, and more.

Of the traveling exhibitions, paintings constituted a third of the materials, followed by prints and drawings, textiles, and sculpture. In keeping with the didactic character of the FAP, several of the exhibitions explained how the works of art were made, with examples including The Making of a Mosaic, and How Tapestries are Made. Most of the traveling shows consisted of group installations featuring three or more artists, but there were also several solo shows, including work from women artists such as Ruth Reeves and Erica Karawina. The Roswell Museum also showed historical and anthropological materials, such as an exhibition on Mayan civilization organized by Tulane University. While most exhibits featured original artwork, the Mayan exhibition included casts of sculpture. A show of contemporary drawings from 1939 featured only reproductions.

Other shows explored New Mexico’s different cultures. Native American exhibitions appear in the schedule regularly, and encompassed historical artifacts as well as student painting from the Santa Fe Indian School. Hispanic traditions were also addressed, with examples including an exhibition of santos, or wooden carvings of saints, and a selection of plates from the Portfolio of Spanish Colonial Design, a set of fifty hand-colored woodblock and linocut prints illustrating different examples of Spanish Colonial decorative art in New Mexico.

Locally-organized exhibitions included archaeological materials, antiques, and paintings by area artists. Like the touring exhibitions, paintings constitute the majority of the temporary shows, with nearly 40% dedicated to easel works. Material culture comes in second, with objects including antiques, flowers, and local collections of historical artifacts. Prints, drawings, and photographs round out the selection. Several local exhibitions augmented national shows, as part of an effort to give residents a sense of ownership and familiarity over the material. The first showing of the Index of American Design in 1938, for instance, featured a display of local antiques, with the intention of having outstanding objects selected for inclusion in the Index itself. Later that summer, residents were invited to bring in their own examples of Currier and Ives prints to display alongside selections from the Library of Congress. In the most ambitious example, an exhibition of FAP flower paintings was augmented with both locally-produced paintings and several bouquets from the Garden Club.

By inviting residents to supplement rotating shows with their own material, the Roswell Museum encouraged the community to contribute to exhibition content, a proactive role that underscored the participatory, educational focus of community art centers. The Roswell Museum presented itself as a collaborator even as it endeavored to educate visitors about its own beliefs regarding what constituted good art.

References

Grieve, Victoria. The Federal Art Project and the Creation of Middlebrow Culture. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2009.

Nunn, Tey Marianna. Sin Nombre: Hispana and Hispano Artists of the New Deal Era. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2001.

All other documents below come from the Roswell Museum and Art Center's WPA archive.

Roland Dickey to Russell Vernon Hunter, August 22, 1938.
Donald Bear to Russell Vernon Hunter, September 8, 1938.
Memorandum from WPA to all State WPA Offices, April 22, 1939.
Shipping Record for FAP Exhibition #279, Erica Karawina’s Impressions of the Dance, scheduled June 16-July 18, 1938.
Shipping Record for FAP Exhibition #10, Facsimiles of Modern Drawings, scheduled July 20-August 9, 1939.
Shipping Record for FAP Exhibition #241, Index of American Design, scheduled January 8-27, 1938.
Shipping Record for FAP Exhibition #241-B, The Index of American Design, scheduled October 22-November 12, 1940.
Shipping Record for FAP Exhibition #511, Index of American Design, scheduled March 10-31, 1942.
Shipping Record for FAP Exhibition #333, Oils and Watercolors, scheduled July 18-30, 1938.
Shipping Record for FAP Exhibition #364-A, Currier and Ives Prints, scheduled July 31-August 17, 1938.
Shipping Record for FAP Exhibition #271, The Making of a Mosaic, scheduled August 18-September 13, 1938.
Shipping Record for Indian School exhibition, scheduled April 21-May 6, 1938.
FAP Form 7, Progress Report for January 1941, submitted by Chester Faris.
Russell Vernon Hunter to Roland Dickey, July 25, 1938.
Roland Dickey to Russell Vernon Hunter, December 30, 1938.
Mary Katherine Higgs to Russell Vernon Hunter, January 6, 1938.
Russell Vernon Hunter to Robert Sprague, January 22, 1938.
“Variety Spices Summer Showing of Pictures on Display in City,” Roswell Morning Dispatch, 21 July 1938.