William Gropper’s Construction of a Dam

Join us at the Department of the Interior Building (1849 C Street, NW) to tour William Gropper’s famed Construction of a Dam mural with Dr. Nick Hartigan, art historian and Fine Arts Specialist with the U.S. General Services Administration. Introduced by Phillips Collection Curatorial Assistant Grace McCormick. 

Gropper’s mural is a dynamic scene of the worker as both a modern hero and creator of a new America. The courageous men stand situated on a rocky hilltop, working together to create one of the massive dams being built across America as a part of President Roosevelt’s Works Projects Administration (WPA) program. In his mural, a WPA commission, Gropper distilled observations he had made during his travels out West to see the Boulder (now Hoover) and Grand Coulee dams.

IMAGE: William Gropper, Construction of a Dam, 1938

About Nick Hartigan

Dr. Nick Hartigan is a Fine Arts Specialist with the U.S. General Services Administration, where he helps oversee the nation’s largest public art collection. His work focuses on the nation’s capital where he serves as a subject matter expert on 20th-century art. At GSA, Hartigan has launched new interpretive programs, expanded public access and visibility, and broadened partnerships with peer institutions inside and outside of the federal government. He earned his BA in art history from the University of California, Berkeley, and his MA and PhD in art history from the University of Michigan.