La Vern Frank-Rush papers
name: label: Creator
content: Frank-Rush, La Vern, 1918-2011
label: Names
content: United States. Work Projects Administration
label: Names
content: United States. Works Progress Administration
topic: label: Topic
content: Art centers -- Iowa -- Sioux City
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The La Vern Frank-Rush papers regarding the WPA Art Center in Sioux City, Iowa, were donated by La Vern Frank-Rush in 2007.
creator: label: Creator
content: Frank-Rush, La Vern, 1918-2011
setName: label: See more items in
content: La Vern Frank-Rush papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The La Vern Frank-Rush papers regarding the WPA Art Center in Sioux City, Iowa, measure 0.2 linear feet and 0.277 GB and date from 1936 to 2007 with the bulk dated 1936 to 1942. Two scrapbooks compiled by Frank-Rush between 1936 and 1942 contain introductory and concluding statements added by her in 2006. A memoir, circa 2007, documents activities, achievements, staff, and participants of the WPA Art Center in Sioux City, Iowa. Also included are digital images of the scrapbooks and memoir, along with seven images of Frank-Rush's artwork.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: LaVern Frank-Rush (b. 1918) worked at the WPA Art Center in Sioux City, Iowa, from its opening in 1938 until 1941, first as a volunter and then as an employee. During this time, she compiled two scrapbooks about the Art Center; circa 2007, she wrote a memoir that focused on the Art Center. 

After finishing junior high school, La Vern Frank-Rush won a contest that enabled her to attend free summer art classes at the Sioux City Public Library. The instructor, Roy Langley, had a lasting influence on the aspiring artist.

The WPA Art Center in Sioux City, Iowa, offered free exhibits, lectures, and art classes to a community which otherwise would not have had such opportunities. The Art Center organized plays, marionette shows, and exhibitions. It also provided classed in ceramics, puppetry, and watercolor painting. The weekly schedule included 32 different offerings and hundreds of children and adults were enrolled. Performances were always well received and record crowds gathered to view the exhibits.

Soon after it opened in 1938, Frank-Rush started working as a volunteer at the WPA Art Center and began compiling a scrapbook about Art Center activities. She studied painting and printmaking withthe various artists who taught there. After she became an employee, Frank-Rush served as an instructor, art teacher, and librarian until 1942.

LaVern Frank and George Rush, who also worked at the Art Center, married in 1943. Three days after their marriage, Rush was assigned to the Engineer Corps at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Frank-Rush served in the Civil Service War Department in Washington, DC, but soon was able to transfer to Fort Belvoir. In 1953 the couple moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, where she taught art at the University of Nebraska from 1956 through 1966. Frank-Rush, who was certified to teach care and raising of houseplants, helped organize the Nebraska Herbal Society, and presented hebal and plant demonstrations at South East Community College in Lincoln. Since retiring in 1980, she has lived quietly in Oregon.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.2 Linear Feet
label: Extent
content: 0.277 Gigabytes
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1936-2007
label: Date
content: bulk 1936-1942
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.franla
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Gigabytes
label: Type
content: Memoirs
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Cd-roms
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is organized into 3 series:

Series 1: Scrapbooks, 1936-2007 (Box 1; 0.1 linear ft.)

Series 2: Memoir, circa 2007 (Box 1; 1 folder)

Series 3: Digitized Collection Items (ER01; 0.277 GB)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed by Jivan Kaur Soverall in June 2009. Born-digital materials were processed by Kirsi Ritosalmi-Kisner in 2019 with funding from Smithsonian Collection Care and Preservation Fund.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Memoirs
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: CD-ROMs
label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks
scopecontent: label: Scope and Content Note
content: The La Vern Frank-Rush papers regarding the WPA Art Center in Sioux City, Iowa, measure 0.2 linear feet and 0.277 GB and date from 1936 to 2007 with the bulk dated 1936 to 1942. Two scrapbooks compiled by Frank-Rush between 1936 and 1942 contain introductory and concluding statements added by her in 2006. A memoir, circa 2007, documents activities, achievements, staff, and participants of the WPA Art Center in Sioux City, Iowa. Also included are digital images of the scrapbooks and memoir. 

Two scrapbooks document the Sioux City Art Center's founding by the WPA in 1938, its activities, and programs. The Center, which still exists today, is one of four WPA art centers in Iowa to survive without interruption. Photographs record exhibits, staff members, students, and work produced at the Art Center and also depict Frank-Rush's personal life. 

Frank-Rush's memoir and scrapbooks provide insight into how the WPA Art Center impacted her as well as the larger community. In her own words, the collection "reveals the personality of the Sioux City Art Center." A small selection of her artwork, digitized, lends a view into the late 1930s.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Material
content: The Archives of American Art houses microfilm copies of selected official WPA records of interest to art historians. The following microfilm, available at AAA ofices and through interlibrary loan, contain additional documentation of the WPA Art Center in Sioux city, Iowa: 

Records of the WPA, General Correspondence files include selected documents pertaining to the Federal Art Project in Iowa. (Reel DC 76, frames 317-2309)

WPA Photograph Collection contains 18 photographs of the Sioux City Art Center, classes, projects, puppet workshops, exhibitions, and marionettes. (Reel 1178, frames 0011-0044)

Iowa Community Art Centers, 1938-1939, features 13 photographs of the Sioux City Art Center. (Reel NDA 16, frames 290-317)