New Deal celebration kicks off in Amistad

Events are scheduled to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the New Deal/Works Progress Administration, works in New Mexico.

The first celebration for Eastern New Mexico will be on Saturday, at the New Deal Gym which was a was a mattress factory during the Depression, at Amistad.

 Kathryn Flynn, executive director of the National New Deal Preservation Association will be the keynote speaker. Also speaking will be Richard Melzer, president of the New Mexico Historical Society.

A mattress made at the factory along with historic photos, WPA paintings and furniture will be on display. There will be demonstrations on adobe block making, lye soap making, quilting and hand embroidery.

The New Deal was started by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in 1933.

The goal of the New Deal was to create jobs for out-of-work Americans suffering from the effects of the Great Depression.

Portales’ District Courthouse and United States Post Office are two of the buildings that were built as part of the New Deal.

Murals decorating the buildings were part of the WPA works which began in 1935, and created over 5,000 jobs for artists and produced over 225,000 works of art.

Portales’ Post Office is home to one of several mural artworks in Portales. An oil on canvas painting created by the artist Theodore Van Soelen, of St. Paul, Minn. in 1938, it is entitled “Buffalo Range.”

Portales will also host the 75th anniversary photo exhibit: New Mexico’s New Deal Treasures. The exhibit, which includes approximately 70 photographs of various Works Project Administration art projects, will be at the Roosevelt County Courthouse from Sept. 19 to Nov. 1, 2008.