Opening Friday 3/4 at The Canessa Gallery: Art and Activism—The New Deal's Legacy Around the Bay

Opening Friday March 4th at 5pm.

National New Deal Preservation Association President Harvey Smith organized “Art and Activism—The New Deal's Legacy Around the Bay,” an exhibit showing at the Canessa Gallery in San Francisco. The exhibit includes original art work by Elizabeth Ginno from the 1939-1940 World's Fair on Treasure Island and a collection of historic photographs of the Montgomery Block neighborhood where the Canessa Gallery is located. The Montgomery Block neighborhood was the home and studio space to many artists including photographer Dorothea Lange, sculptor Ralph Stackpole, Diego Rivera, and Frida Kahlo.

The exhibit explores the context of the New Deal's broad social policies—which included education, recreation, arts and public jobs programs—as well as the relevance of the New Deal to today's public policy. Part of this exhibit was originally sponsored by and shown at the Berkeley Historical Society.

The opening reception will be from 5–9 p.m. March 4, 2011. There will be a Curator's Discussion from 6–8 p.m. March 10. At other times the exhibit will be shown by appointment only. The Canessa Gallery is located at 708 Montgomery Street (at Washington and Columbus). Call (415) 296-9029 for information.

Catherine Powell, Director
Labor Archives and Research Center
San Francisco State University
480 Winston Drive
San Francisco, CA 94132
(415) 564-4010