Invitation Wall
Invitation Wall is the museum’s 40-foot outdoor public art exhibition space that reflects the museum’s commitment to radical hospitality.
Art for All, Posters
for the People
Planned Housing Fights Disease, Federal Art Project, between 1936 and 1938. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Exhibition
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The Living Room,
1st floor - Free
Art for All, Posters for the People
“I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt’s second inaugural address, 1937
No government program has left a more visible legacy on the American landscape than the New Deal’s Works Progress Administration. Along with the construction of hundreds of federally funded buildings, including the Jane Addams Homes, the program employed thousands of artists.
Many of these artists were tasked with creating promotional posters for the programs and social values of the New Deal.
As part of our commitment to this history, we are also offering a new poster designed by William Estrada for people to take away for free as part of our Art for All and Posters for the People Project.
More exhibitions
Historic Apartments
Experience the texture and fabric of public housing throughout time by visiting three recreated historic apartments showcasing different families’ experiences at different moments in public housing history between 1938 and 1975. The intimate individual, family and community stories become the lens to understand large national public housing policies and their impact…
History Lessons: Everyday Objects from Public Housing
“What is an object that tells a story about your life and experiences in public housing?” History Lessons: Everyday Objects from Public Housing is a national effort to collect objects from public housing residents in diverse communities across the USA, and work with residents in storytelling and writing workshops to write their own labels…
Exhibition Resources
Additional resources available at the front desk.