Washington Project for the Arts

=History=

Alice Denney, an energetic lover of contemporary art active on the Washington scene, founded the Washington Project for the Arts (WPA) in 1975 as a "service center" for area artists and performers. The WPA's mission was not simply to provide a place for artists to show their work or perform, but also to make available advice in arts management, grantsmanship, career development, and legal rights. Denney launched the WPA with a grant from the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation, a tiny staff, a three-story building, and a lot of good will. The WPA officially opened in April of 1975 with a multidisciplinary program that included a broad survey of Washington area visual art.

Denney stepped down as director in early 1979.

Al Nodal, hired by Denney, succeeded her as Director in April 1979. Nodal continued to emphasize the work of area artists, but he added more shows featuring out-of-towners. Nodal started the WPA bookstore, which featured an unusual selection of artists' books and launched a new program to encourage the production or artists books. To support his programs, Nodal landed major grants from the The National Endowment for the Artsand the District of Columbia's Commission on the Arts and Humanities. In 1980, WPA held its first auction fundraiser. Nodal ended his directorship in 1983, after WPA's move out of its original 1227 G Street location.

The board hired Jock Reynolds in the summer of 1983 to replace Al Nodal as Director. The programming under Reynolds received regular coverage in the national art press, shifting WPA from primarily serving local artists to serving a national audience. This shift for the WPA was met with mixed feelings, some welcoming the national prestige, and others accustomed to WPA's mission to focus on local Washington, DC artists. Through his leadership, Reynolds launched an aggressive capital campaign in the spring of 1988 where he brought in generous support from the federal and local government, art foundations, individual donors, and more than eighty corporations or corporate foundations. This raised the bar for WPA, and to maintain its level of activity in the future, it would need to raise close to $1 million each year. In December 1989, Reynolds took a sabbatical and decided not to return to Washington.

John L. Moore III, who was already at the WPA, filled in as acting director from August 1989 until the board hired Marilyn Zeitlin, an experienced contemporary art curator, as executive director in May 1990. The budget for the fiscal year 1991 was set at around a million dollars, but Zeitlin was only able to raise a fraction of that amount.

The WPA continued to mount an impressive array of programs, but financial problems overwhelmed the organization. When Zeitlin left in May 1992, Don Russell, who had been on the WPA staff in the 1980s, was hired back. Unfortunately at this time, one of WPA's mainstays for financial support, the National Endowment for the Arts, was beginning to eliminate funding for artists spaces. In April 1995, Russell resigned and by December of the same year, WPA was bankrupt. It defaulted on its rent, lost its loan, and closed its doors.

[A Brief History of WPA & WPAC by Laura Coyle]

WPACorcoran, 1996 - 2007

In 1996, a generous handful of board members and avid WPA supporters paid off the WPA's outstanding debts, wiping the slate clean. With the support of David C. Levy, the director of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Corcoran board of trustees, and members of the art community, the WPA's operations were transferred into the Washington Project for the ArtsCorcoran. The Corcoran would provide inkind support, including an office in the museum's curatorial department, equipment, technical assistance, and the like, but no direct financial support.

In 1999, Marta Kuzma served as director. She resigned in June 2001 when the WPAC was not able to raise enough funds to balance the budget. After Kuzma's departure, Annie Adjchavanich was named director. While Adjchavanich was director, she ramped up programs for area artists and recruited new members. In March 2005, Adjchavanich left the WPAC and Kim Ward, previously membership and finance director, was named acting director until August 2005, when hired as executive director.

As of December 31, 2007, the Washington Project for the ArtsCorcoran, officially became the Washington Project for the Arts once again after an 11-year partnership with the Corcoran Gallery of Art.

The Different Spaces of WPA

When Alice Denney founded the WPA in 1975, she was lucky to snare a rundown building at 1227 G Street, NW, Washington, DC from the city's Redevelopment Land Agency. The rent was only $1 a year. Renovated on a shoestring budget, 1227 G Street included 5 galleries, a film screening room, a performing arts space, and offices. A small board, over half of whom were artists, advised the programming and exhibitions associated with the G street Space.

In 1982, 1227 G Street was sold to developers and WPA was evicted from its original location. Then director Al Nodal supervised WPA's move to the Jenifer Building in the 400 block of 7th Street, NW, Washington DC. Rent was no longer $1 per year, thus straining the WPA's resources considerably.

In 1985, only three years after the move from 1227 G Street to the Jenifer Building, the WPA's new home was sold again. The WPA relocated to 7th and E Streets, NW, to what had been a Kresge five and dime. Then directory Jock Reynolds made a deal with the new owners of the Jenifer Building that would allow WPA to move back into the building after it was renovated. In December 1988, the WPA was able to move back into its improved 11,000 sq. foot space, all because of an aggressive fundraising campaign led by Reynolds.

In 1996, the WPA was supported by the Corcoran Gallery of Art and became the WPACorcoran. It moved its space into an office in the Corcoran's curatorial office. No longer with an exhibition space of its own, the WPAC relied on collaborations and donations of space from other area arts organizations.

In 2007, after separating from the Corcoran, the WPA became an autonomous organization once again with a space of their own at 2023 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington DC.

Notable Exhibitions

In June 1989, the Corcoran Gallery of Art canceled "The Perfect Moment: Robert Mapplethorpe Photographs," which included sexually explicit images and was a part of the culture wars of the late 80s that questioned grant funding for individual artists from the National Endowment for the Arts. Not wanting to let an important exhibition fall to the wayside, the WPA presented the controversial show in its own space from July 21 - August 13, 1989. About 35,000 visitors, a standing record, attended the exhibition.

December 2005, WPAC mounted "PostSecret", a project founded by Frank Warren. In a donated space on M street in Georgetown, Washington, DC, thousands of postcards that were sent into Warren were placed on display. The exhibition drew in large crowds, many whom waited in line to see the exhibit, and can be credited as the most successful exhibition since the Mapplethorpe show.

The WPA Biennial exhibition "OPTIONS", features under-recognized and emerging artists from the mid-Atlantic region.

Past exhibitions and programs include, "Wall Snatchers, The Experimental Media Series, Seven, Sculpture Unbound, Anonymous I, Anonymous Returns, Anonymous III, Conversions, Punk Festival," and many more.

WPA has collaborated with, The Ellipse Arts Center, Edison Place Gallery, Washington Sculptor's Group, District of Columbia Arts Center, Flashpoint, Corcoran Gallery of Art and College of Art & Design, Warehouse Arts Complex and Theater, Creative Alliance at The Patterson, Gallery5, and many others.

References

1. A Brief History of WPA & WPAC by Laura Coyle