Unemployment and financial hardship were all around. Government work relief programs were just beginning. It isn't surprising that many Nebraska artists reflected the American Scene with pictures of work or relief.

The Noon Shift
Louis Smetana, Omaha
Watercolor on paper
35 x 27 framed
743p-037

The Mat
Louis Smetana, Omaha
Watercolor on paper
15x 21.75
743p-172

Completing the Revetment
Louis Smetana, Omaha
Watercolor on paper
26.5 x 35 framed
743p-034
Louis Smetana was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1878. He came to Omaha in 1911 and spent the rest of his life there. Smetana was an architectural draftsman, amateur painter and ichthyologist.

Going to Work
Ernest Stevens, Neligh
Ink on paper
27 x 37.25 framed
743p-106
Ernest Stevens produced this hopeful (or reminiscent) image while living in Neligh and working for the PWAP. Born in Iowa, he attended the Platte Institute and studied in Paris at the Academie Julien with Max Bohm. By 1935 Stevens was in Wyoming. He painted WPA murals for the high school auditorium in Torrington, and directed the federal art gallery there until his death.

Unskilled Labor Bureau
Elizabeth Olds, Omaha
Lithograph
15 x 12 unframed
743p-001-02

Tuberculosis Tests for Children
Elizabeth Olds, Omaha
Lithograph
17 x 10 unframed
743p-002-02

Boy Artist at Transient Shelter
Elizabeth Olds, Omaha
Lithograph
9 x 12 unframed
743p-005-33

CWA Dental Clinic
Elizabeth Olds, Omaha
Lithograph
16.5 x 12 unframed
743p-006-13

The Preachers Message to the Homeless Men
Elizabeth Olds, Omaha
Lithograph
12.5 x 22 unframed
743p-152-001
Elizabeth Olds was an artist of the Social Realist ilk who produced these scenes of relief while working for the PWAP in Omaha. Born in Minneapolis in 1896, she studied at the Minneapolis Art Institute and in New York. In 1926 she became the first woman to win the Guggenheim Fellowship for work and study abroad, and spent the next four years in France. In 1932 she came to Omaha on a commission to paint portraits of Samuel Rees' family. Mr. Rees was in the printing business and Olds learned the art of lithography there. She moved back to New York City in 1935 and worked for the WPA graphics program. Later in life she wrote and illustrated children's books and worked as an illustrator-reporter.

The Forgotten Man
Gustav Berk, Omaha
Oil on Canvas
36.75 x 31 framed
743p-090
A statement, perhaps, on the plight of the white-collar worker who was initially underserved by government aid programs.