Congress Moves to Shield New Deal Murals as Federal Buildings Face Sale
A new House bill is trying to prevent publicly commissioned art from being lost if federal buildings are sold or otherwise disposed of. Introduced on Tuesday, July 14, by Dina Titus of Nevada and Lloyd Doggett of Texas, the Preserve Act would require the General Services Administration to create an expert committee charged with protecting artworks installed in federal properties slated for disposal.
The legislation, whose full title is the Protecting Resources and Ensuring Stewardship of Enduring Records of Visual Expression Act, places particular emphasis on New Deal-era murals and related works. That focus is not abstract. The bill specifically points to the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building in Washington, DC, a site long known as the “Sistine Chapel of the New Deal.” Its walls contain murals by Philip Guston, Ben Shahn, Seymour Fogel, Emma Lou Davis, Henry Kreis, Ethel Magafan and Jenne Magafan.
Some of those works are frescoes embedded directly into the building, which makes removal difficult and preservation highly specialized. According to a statement from Titus’s office, protecting them would require people with technical expertise as well as art-historical knowledge. Preservationists warn that if the Cohen Building and similar properties are sold, the art inside could be damaged or destroyed.
The bill would also require the GSA to ensure that the works remain accessible to the public, either by leasing them out or relocating them to another building. That provision reflects a broader concern that federal art should not disappear into private hands simply because the structure around it changes ownership.
The measure has already drawn support from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Living New Deal, Hands Off the Arts and Preservation Action. Alex Lawson, executive director of Social Security Works, called the legislation an “enthusiastic” endorsement of works that are both “priceless irreplaceable masterpieces of American art” and an important record of the New Deal’s employment programs. Amy Werbel and Karen Shelby, co-chairs of Public Art Dialogue, said the works serve as reminders of past aspirations and as “guideposts” for the nation’s visual future.
Still, the bill faces a difficult path. After introduction, it was referred to the House committees on transportation and infrastructure and on oversight and government reform. With Republicans controlling the House of Representatives, it is unclear when, or whether, the legislation will advance. For now, the debate underscores a larger question: whether public art in federal buildings is treated as a removable asset or as part of the country’s civic memory.
