Artifact of the Month: September 2025

Works Progress Administration in Alaska

Weathered wooden boardwalks, a tide low in the harbor, and smoke rising from waterfront buildings fill Roland Mousseau's, "Street in Ketchikan." The woodblock-style print captures a unique downtown view that feels both familiar and distant, preserving a moment in the city's past. Mousseau created the piece while on assignment for a Works Progress Administration (WPA) art project that sent twelve artists north to document life in the territory in 1937. The project launched in Ketchikan, with artists arriving in June aboard the steamship North Sea. Upon arrival the artists split into smaller groups of three. Over the next several months the groups were dispatched around the state to Wrangell, Valdez, Seward, Anchorage, Mt. McKinley Park (known today as Denali), and Fairbanks. Although they traveled on similar routes, each group spent varying amounts of time in each location. Each artist created a distinctive portrayal of the locations they visited, finding inspiration from a variety of sources. While in the Ketchikan area, the artists observed various industries, explored town and local trails, and used a Forest Service ranger boat to access the backcountry. One group reportedly stayed at an abandoned cabin in Carroll Inlet.

The project ended abruptly in October when poor weather set in creating challenging travel in the Interior. The artists returned to their respective homes and completed their works for submission. Although the effort produced a significant body of art, a planned large-scale exhibition of the Alaska works never materialized. Even records of the project are hard to find as many were destroyed when the WPA disbanded as a result of the United States' involvement in World War II. In the following decades, works were loaned to schools, the Alaska Governor's Mansion, and other public and governmental facilities throughout the country. In 1987, the Anchorage Museum hosted a 50-year anniversary retrospective exhibition featuring pieces from each artist and one of the artist's wives.

Roland Mousseau, born in Minnesota in 1899, was among the twelve artists chosen for the Alaska assignment. At the time, he was living in an artist colony in Woodstock, New York. During the project, he teamed up with Karl Fortress and Ferdinand Lo Pinto, and the three informally referred to themselves as the "New York Group." Of the pieces Mousseau created, "Street in Ketchikan" stands out as both a document of place and an artist's interpretation of the rhythms of a Southeast Alaska town. After his time with the WPA, Mousseau went on to teach at the Minnesota School of Art. He passed away in 1980 and is buried in Minneapolis, Minnesota.


Object ID #: THS 88.1.165.1