The WPA & the Golden Age · Reading & the Stage
Illinois symphony orchestra
Federal Music Project, Chicago, 1937
What it is
A Federal Music Project poster for the Illinois Symphony Orchestra at Chicago's Great Northern Theatre, reduced to a single enormous musical note — the kind of one-idea composition the WPA silkscreen shops did best.
Why it matters
The Library of Congress notes the design is possibly by Ralph Graham, who headed the Chicago poster division, and records a May 22, 1937 date stamp on the verso. Printed in flat colour on board.
What to notice
One outsized musical note carries an entire symphony bill at the Great Northern Theatre.
Made by artists on the public payroll — art the country already owned.
Provenance
- School
- WPA — Federal Art Project (United States)
- Format
- One-sheet
- Poster published
- Federal Music Project, Chicago, 1937
- Source
- Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division · LCCN 98507726 (cph.3f05176)
Rights: CLEAR. Public domain — U.S. government program work (WPA Federal Art Project), any year. Gated by the poster’s own publication year. Cleared by registry on 2026-07-18.
Format
The full-resolution, color-managed file — restored honestly, yours to print and keep.
Sized to protect print quality — this scan supports sizes up to 18x24" cleanly.
Size
$29.00
