Harlem hospital restores WPA murals by black artists
Summary and headline written by AI from the source article. How we work
NYC Health + Hospitals completed conservation work on three murals from the Great Depression and a sculpture at Harlem Hospital on October 14.
The restored artworks include two murals by Charles Alston, “Magic in Medicine” and “Modern Medicine,” both from 1940, and an eight-panel mural called “Pursuit of Happiness” (1937) by Hayes. These pieces originated during a time when the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project gave Black artists new opportunities for public art commissions.
Hospital administrators initially objected to some of Hayes’s designs in 1936, claiming they featured “too much black subject matter.” However, after the artists protested, the commissioner changed the decision and allowed the murals to proceed. The restored works are now displayed in the hospital’s indoor mural pavilion.
