MILWAUKEE— Jewish Museum of Milwaukee unveils new exhibit.

With many museums opening back up, new exhibits are making their debuts. The latest one to open is the Jewish Museum of Milwaukee’s “Brother, can you spare a dime,” exhibit. 

“This bodywork is a time capsule for the Great Depression,” Jewish Museum curator, Molly Dubin says.

Dubin says this exhibit takes a look at the everyday worker and their plight during the Great Depression.

“It’s kind of amazing that out of this really dark time in history, arise is the first major federal funding in terms of support for the arts,” Dubin says.

The Works Progress Administration’s federal art project ran between 1935 and 1943. The program employed 10,000 artists to create murals, paintings, sculptures, and more. Dubin says the struggles and hopes depicted in these works have parallels to current events, with unemployment rates during the pandemic matching depression-era levels. 

“The mental anguish, just the toll that the great depression and being out of work and the uncertainty... What that did to the every day worker?” Dubin says.

This exhibit gives hands-on opportunities to engage. A chalkboard is at-hand to write out your thoughts as you navigate the art. 

More than 70 pieces of art are now display, for all to come and enjoy with no restrictions for the first time since the start of the pandemic. It’s something Dubin says she is really looking forward to.

“It's so important to be able to welcome people; there's nothing that replaces been in physical proximity to a work of art,” Dubin says.

A full list of upcoming programming for the Jewish Museum of Milwaukee is below: