Marie Bleck (1911–1949) was an American printmaker known for her work with the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

(WPA). She attended Oshkosh State Teachers College and

Milwaukee State Teachers College Wisconsin State College of Milwaukee was a predecessor institution of the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Founded in 1885 as Wisconsin State Normal School, it became Wisconsin State Teachers College-Milwaukee in 1927, and Wisconsin State Coll ...

. She went on to teach art in the Wisconsin public school system, becoming head of the art department of Oshkosh High School in 1938. In the late 1930s and early 1940s Bleck created prints for the

Federal Art Project The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. Under national director Holger Cahill, it was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administratio ...

of the WPA. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Bleck served in the

WAVES United States Naval Reserve (Women's Reserve), better known as the WAVES (for Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service), was the women's branch of the United States Naval Reserve during World War II. It was established on July 21, 1942, ...

(Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). After her service she settled in Alaska, where she taught art in

Palmer Palmer may refer to: People and fictional characters * Palmer (pilgrim), a medieval European pilgrim to the Holy Land * Palmer (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Palmer (surname), including a list of people and f ...

. Bleck died in 1949 at the age of 37. Bleck's work is in the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

. Her work was included in the 2017 exhibition entitled ''WPA Art from RAM'S Collection'' at the

Racine Art Museum The Racine Art Museum (RAM) and RAM's Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts are located in Racine, Wisconsin, U.S. The museum holds the largest and most significant contemporary craft collection in North America, with more than 9,500 objects fro ...

Gallery

Marie Bleck - Muskie Fishermen, 1937.jpg, ''Muskie Fishermen'', 1937 Marie Bleck - The Cant Hookman, 1937.jpg, ''The Cant Hookman'' 1937 Marie Bleck - The New Cabin, 1937.jpg, ''The New Cabin'', 1937

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bleck, Marie 1911 births 1949 deaths Artists from Wisconsin Federal Art Project artists