The 1930s were a period of intense artistic experimentation, as new forms and methods were explored, transformative cultural institutions were founded, and artists self-consciously sought to reach broader layers of the public. The rise of social unrest during the Depression heightened the political concerns of artistic works, while New Deal programs gave artists both federal recognition and the funding and space to work out new cultural forms. Technical changes, like the popularization of the radio, changed how accessible culture was and to whom, and an international break from formalism and modernism also worked to produce a popularized, socially conscious tendency in American art. During the Depression decade, Washington State, often seen as marginal to national art history, hosted some of the most innovative theatre, musical, and performing arts work in the nation, with sometimes global resonance.

It is one of the ironies of the Great Depression that the emblematic cultural institution of Washington State, the Seattle Art Museum, was created and privately funded during the darkest days of the economic crisis, when tens of thousands were losing jobs and homes. SAM was a gift to the city from art collector Richard Fuller and his wealthy mother Margaret Fuller. In 1931, they hired UW architect Richard Gould to design a museum sited in Volunteer Park and pledged much of their personal art collection to the city. The building, which now houses the Seattle Asian Art Museum, opened to the public in 1933.

The SAM story reminds us that not everyone suffered or even lost money during the Depression and reminds us too that philanthropy accelerated in the 1930s, as some of those who retained wealth gave to charities to aid the unfortunate and others gave to the arts to rescue cultural institutions that struggled amidst the economic