Finding Aid to the Lynchburg Federal Art Gallery Papers

JONES MEMORIAL LIBRARY
2311 MEMORIAL AVENUE
LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA 24501
(434) 846-0501
THE LYNCHBURG FEDERAL ART GALLERY PAPERS
The collection includes minutes of meetings, notices about exhibits, newspaper
clippings, and other items. The Lynchburg Federal Art Gallery was established in 1936
by the Virginia Art Project, Works Progress Administration and was supported locally by
the Lynchburg Art Alliance.
LYNCHBURG FEDERAL ART GALLERY
The Lynchburg Federal Art Gallery opened in October 1936. The movement to
establish this art center for the training of local artists was supported by the Lynchburg
Civic Art League, the Lynchburg Art Club, Lynchburg College, and Randolph-Macon
Woman's College. The original proposal called for the hiring of ten instructors to teach
fine arts and commercial arts. With the approval of the city council, the gallery opened at
506-508 Main Street, in a building donated by Stephen P. Halsey. In 1937, the Gallery
was moved to Peakland School on Oak Lane, where it remained until it was closed ca.
1942. At one time, the Lynchburg Federal Art Gallery was the largest unit of the federal
art project in Virginia.
[The Lynchburg Federal Art Gallery Papers, Mss., MS2078, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA.]

LYNCHBURG ART ALLIANCE
The Lynchburg Art Alliance was formed for the purpose of creating a permanent art
center for the city with the aid of the Virginia Art Project of the Works Progress
Administration. Among its other goals, the Alliance sought to establish an art center and
gallery, the establish permanent collections in the city, to promote local art talent, and to
establish a society of artists in Art, Drama, Music, History, and Civics.
[The Lynchburg Federal Art Gallery Papers, Mss., MS2078, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA.]

MS2078