Art in Action was an exhibit of artists at work displayed for four months in the summer of 1940 at the

Golden Gate International Exposition The Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE) (1939 and 1940), held at San Francisco's Treasure Island, was a World's Fair celebrating, among other things, the city's two newly built bridges. The San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge opened in 193 ...

(GGIE) held on

Treasure Island ''Treasure Island'' (originally titled ''The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys''Hammond, J. R. 1984. "Treasure Island." In ''A Robert Louis Stevenson Companion'', Palgrave Macmillan Literary Companions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. .) is an adventure n ...

. Many famous artists took part in the exhibit, including

Dudley C. Carter Dudley Christopher Carter (May 6, 1891 – April 7, 1992) was an artist and woodcarver from the Pacific Northwest. His works are on display in the U.S. states of Washington, Oregon and California. There are also works of his on display in Japan ...

, woodcarver and

Diego Rivera Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, known as Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957), was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the ...

, muralist. Rivera painted his monumental work ''

Pan American Unity ''Pan American Unity'' is a mural painted by Mexican artist and muralist Diego Rivera for the Art in Action exhibition at Treasure Island's Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE) in San Francisco, California in 1940. This work was the cente ...

'' at Art in Action.

Origins

During the first year of the Exposition, the investors failed to make a profit and the GGIE committee decided to extend the fair for one more year. The exhibition's second season ran from May 25, 1940, through September 29, 1940, and featured lower ticket prices and a collection of new attractions. Art in Action opened on June 1, a week after the main Exposition, and closed at the same time as the rest of the Exposition.The Diego Rivera Mural Project. ''Art In Action''
Timothy L. Pflueger, architect and member of the GGIE design committee, came up with a plan to have an exhibition of artists on display. He selected Helen Bruton, an artist from Alameda, California, to be in charge of the program. She was assisted by Beatrice Judd Ryan, a local art dealer and curator, who was hired as the State Director of Exhibitions. They contacted a wide array of artists to show their talents to the public while working within the "Fine Arts Palace", a concrete and steel industrial building measuring 335 by 78 feet intended to be an aircraft hangar after the Exposition closed. For the second time, Pflueger brought Rivera to San Francisco to paint a mural, this time as the main attraction at Art in Action. Alfred Frankenstein of the New York Times reported from the opening day and wrote "Here the visitor is privileged to observe a kind of twenty-ring circus of art... On the floor, in a series of little ateliers, sculptors, painters, lithographers, etchers, ceramicists, weavers and whatnot are at work under the direct observation of the public." On July 29, 1940,

LIFE magazine ''Life'' was an American magazine published weekly from 1883 to 1972, as an intermittent "special" until 1978, and as a monthly from 1978 until 2000. During its golden age from 1936 to 1972, ''Life'' was a wide-ranging weekly general-interest ma ...

ran a story about Art in Action using a spread of color photos. Along one wall, Rivera painted the mural ''Pan American Unity'' on ten steel-framed panels spanning 74 feet in width and reaching 22 feet in height, weighing a total of 23 tons. Some 68 artists had participated by the end of September when the Exposition was closed. Rivera was not finished, however; he and two assistants labored for two more months in the empty exhibit hall. On Friday, November 30 and Sunday, December 2, 30,000–35,000 visitors came to Treasure Island to view the completed mural. During the painting of the mural,

Frida Kahlo Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón (; 6 July 1907 – 13 July 1954) was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by Culture of Mexico, the country's ...

had arrived in San Francisco and on December 8, 1940, Rivera's 54th birthday, Kahlo and Rivera were married for the second time in a civil ceremony at

San Francisco City Hall San Francisco City Hall is the seat of government for the City and County of San Francisco, California. Re-opened in 1915 in its open space area in the city's Civic Center, it is a Beaux-Arts monument to the City Beautiful movement that epito ...

. After the Exposition, many of the larger artworks remained in the building in temporary storage. Most of these ended up at

San Francisco City College City College of San Francisco (CCSF or City College) is a State school#United States, public community college in San Francisco, California. Founded as a Junior college#United States, junior college in 1935, the college plays an important local ...

in their permanent collection, including

's ''Bighorn Mountain Ram'' which became the school's mascot.

Artists

Artists that participated in the ''Art in Action'' exhibition. *

, muralist: ''Pan American Unity'' **Mona Hoffman, assistant muralist **

Emmy Lou Packard Emmy Lou Packard also known as Betty Lou Packard (1914–1998) was a Californian post-war artist known for painting, printmaking and murals. Early life Emmy Lou Packard was born on April 15, 1914, near El Centro, California, to parents Emma a ...

, assistant muralist **Arthur Niendorff, assistant muralist *

, woodcarver: ''Goddess of the Forest'', ''Bighorn Mountain Ram'' *

Frederick E. Olmsted Frederick Erskine Olmsted, also known as Fritz Olmsted, (November 8, 1872 – February 19, 1925) was an American forester and one of "the founders of American forestry". He is credited with helping to establish the National Forest system in th ...

, sculptor: ''Leonardo da Vinci'', bust in limestone *

Beniamino Bufano Beniamino "Bene" Bufano (October 15, 1890August 18, 1970) was an Italian American sculptor, best known for his large-scale monuments representing peace and his modernist work often featured smoothly rounded animals and relatively simple shapes ...

, sculptor: ''St. Francis'' in the California Hall * Ruth Cravath, sculptor: horse's head in marble *

Herman Volz Herman Roderick Volz (1904–1990) was a Swiss-American painter, muralist, lithographer, set designer, decorative artist and ceramist. He was politically active, vocal and often made social statements through his imagery and he was especially take ...

, painter, lithographer, ceramicist: ''Organic'' and ''Inorganic Science'', large scale low-relief marble mosaic and two large, painted murals called, ''The Conquest of the West (By Land, By Sea) ''which required around 10 assistants. **Juan Breda, assistant mosaicist **

Robert P. McChesney Robert Pearson McChesney (1913–2008) was a California post-war artist, abstract expressionist painter, assemblage artist, printmaker, sculptor and teacher. He is considered one of the "progenitors of Bay Area abstract expressionism". Life He ...

, mural assistant ** Jose Ramis, mural assistant ** John Saccaro, mural assistant ** John Thomas Hayes (Tom Hayes), mural assistant ** Carlton Williams, mural assistant ** Peter Lowe, mural assistant ** Percy Freer, mural assistant ** Alden Clark, mural assistant ** Ernest Lenshaw, mural assistant * Cecilia Bancroft Graham, sculptor: clay bas-relief * Pauline Ivancovich Teller, woodcarver: redwood relief carvings * Helen Forbes: portraits, including one of Pauline Ivancovich Teller *

Jean Varda Jean "Yanko" Varda (11 September 1893 – 10 January 1971) was an American artist, best known for his collage work. Varda was one of the early adopters of the Sausalito houseboat lifestyle that was popular in the 1960s–1970s. He was the subj ...

, painter * Elizabeth Ginno: some 75 etchings of costumed foreign visitors Other fine artists that participated at the Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE) *

Miguel Covarrubias Miguel Covarrubias, also known as José Miguel Covarrubias Duclaud (22 November 1904 — 4 February 1957) was a Mexican painter, caricaturist, illustrator, ethnologist and art historian. Along with his American colleague Matthew W. Stirling, ...

, muralist: The set of murals of illustrated maps entitled ''The Fauna and Flora of the Pacific, Peoples, Art and Culture, Economy, Native Dwellings,'' and ''Native Means of Transportation.'' * Vivika Heino, ceramics *

Allan Houser Allan Capron Houser or Haozous (June 30, 1914 – August 22, 1994) was a Chiricahua Apache sculptor, painter and book illustrator born in Oklahoma.Dorothy Rieber Joralemon Dorothy Rieber Joralemon (March 19, 1893 – March 22, 1987) was an American abstract sculptor, children's portrait artist and writer based in Northern California. Early life and education Born in San Francisco as Dorothy Rieber, she was the d ...

, sculpture * David Klein, painter *

Xavier Martínez Xavier Timoteo Martínez (February 7, 1869 – January 13, 1943) was a California artist active in the late 19th and early 20th century. He was a well-known bohemian figure in San Francisco, the East Bay, and the Monterey Peninsula and one of ...

, painter: ''Portrait of Elsie'' *

Ralph Stackpole Ralph Ward Stackpole (May 1, 1885 – December 10, 1973) was an American sculpture, sculptor, painter, muralist, etcher and art educator, San Francisco's leading artist during the 1920s and 1930s. Stackpole was involved in the art and causes of so ...

, sculpture and muralist: '' Pacifica ''

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

References

{{Coord, 37.8242, N, 122.3710, W, source:wikidata_region:US-CA_type:event, display=title Golden Gate International Exposition Art in San Francisco 1940 in California Federal Art Project

Origins

Artists

See also

References