Audrey McMahon (1898 – August 20, 1981) was the Director of the New York region of the

Federal Art Project The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. Under national director Holger Cahill, it was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administrati ...

from 1935 to 1943;O'Connor, Francis V. "Audrey McMahon." in O'Connor, Francis V., ed. ''The New Deal Art Projects: An Anthology of Memoirs.'' Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1972, p 50. the region she oversaw included

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

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, and

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

.McMahon, Audrey. "A General View of the WPA Federal Art Project in New York City and State." in O'Connor, Francis V., ed. ''The New Deal Art Projects: An Anthology of Memoirs.'' Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1972. Born in

in 1898, she attended the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

, and she was the director of the

College Art Association The College Art Association of America (CAA) is the principal organization in the United States for professionals in the visual arts, from students to art historians to emeritus faculty. Founded in 1911, it "promotes these arts and their underst ...

. She died August 20, 1981, at her home in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

at the age of 87. Her approach to the administration of the Federal Art Project attempted to give the artists employed a great deal of freedom, and as she recalled later, "It is gratifying to note...that almost all of the painters, sculptors, graphic artists, and muralists who recall those days remember little or no artistic stricture." As the Federal Art Project began its conclusion in 1939, McMahon worked to delay the liquidation process, and the program changed to become the Graphic Section of the

War Services Division War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

in 1942, wherein "mural painters designed and executed camouflage patterns for tanks, ships, and many military objects", until the program was liquidated in January 1943 and McMahon resigned. A 1977 sculpture by Eugenie Gershoy was titled "Homage to Audrey McMahon (Goddess of Fertility)," in recognition of the over 50,000 works of art produced in New York City during the first few years of the Federal Arts Project.

References

External links

Oral history interview with Audrey McMahon, 1964
{{DEFAULTSORT:McMahon, Audrey Federal Art Project artists American arts administrators Women arts administrators 1898 births 1981 deaths People from Greenwich Village Works Progress Administration in New York (state) Federal Art Project administrators