About this Event
Who gets to shape the artistic and cultural life of a community, and who gets to tell its stories? Between 1974 and 1981, the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) employed more than 30,000 artists and cultural workers in nearly 200 cities, towns, and Indigenous territories across the United States. Although CETA was not passed with artists in mind, it created the most significant federally supported arts workforce since the New Deal’s WPA, and its impact extended far beyond the artworks produced during its lifespan.
Inspired by the exhibition ART/WORK: The Practice and Politics of CETA and the Arts, 1974–1981 at the CUNY Graduate Center’s James Gallery, a panel discussion considers CETA’s legacy. Curators Molly Garfinkel and Jodi Waynberg join Makeda Best, chief curator of photography at MoMA; Bella Desai, vice president for public programs and exhibitions at NYPL Research Libraries; and Drew Thompson, visual historian from Bard College. Historian Prithi Kanakamedala, a professor Bronx Community College and the CUNY Graduate Center, moderates.
Presented with the CUNY Graduate Center’s James Gallery.
Event venue & nearby stays
Elebash Recital Hall, The Graduate Center, 365 5th Avenue, New York, United States
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