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LETTER TO ALL THE MEMBERS OF THE ARTISTS CONGRESS

Every point included in the letter is important. Please read them carefully. 

You are invited to a General Membership Meeting on Friday, January 17th at 8 P.M. at the A.C.A Gallery, 52 West 8th Street, New York City. All those within commuting distance are urged to attend this meeting, which will probably be the last General Meeting before the Congress. The agenda of the Congress will be presented and papers read. By your presence you will have the opportunity to get a preview of the Congress and assure yourself that your viewpoint is represented. Tickets for the Congress will be on sale.

The American Artists Congress will open at Town Hall 123 West 43rd Street, New York City, Friday evening, February 14, 1936 at 8 P.M. This session is open to the general public. All seats are for sale and there will be no free admissions. This applies to the members of the Congress as well as the public at large.

At this meeting Lewis Mumford will act as Chairman; Stuart Davis will speak on "Why an Artists Congress"; Rockwell Kent and Paul Manship have promised to speak; Aaron Douglas will speak on "The Negro is American Culture"; Joe Jones will speak on "Repression of Art in America"; Margaret Bourke-White will speak on the "Position of the Artist in the U.S.S.R"; Heywood Broun is expected to speak; George Biddle will speak on the boycott of the Olympic games in Berlin by the artists; Peter Blume will speak on the topic "The Artist Must Choose". There will be certain modifications to the program, but it is expected to remain substantially as here outlined. 

On Saturday and Sunday, February 15th and 16th, there will be morning and afternoon sessions at the New School for Social Research, 66 West 12th Street, New York City. These sessions are free, but will be open only to members of the Congress who present their membership cards and invited guests to whom guest cards have been issued. No others will be admitted 

At the session on Saturday morning the general topic will be THE ARTIST IN SOCIETY. Three major papers are planned. 1. The Social Basis of Art, by Meyer Schapiro. 2. Race, Nationality and Art; the speaker as yet undetermined. 3. The Artist and His Audience; paper in preparation, but the speaker not finally assigned. In connection with this last paper there will be sub-papers which include the Revolutionary Cartoon and a paper on Graphic Art, by William Siegel, Harry Sternberg and A. Stavenitz. A paper on the sculptor is in preparation by Waylande Gregory. 

At the session on Saturday afternoon the general topic will be PROBLEMS OF THE AMERICAN ARTIST. Three major papers are planned. 1. Tendencies in American Art which will attempt to give an objective picture of these tendencies since 1900 and to point out the historical forces which have determined them. Several artists ave contributed to the work on this paper, among them, Arnold Blanch, Lincoln Rothschild and Saul Schary. 2. The government in Art, is in preparation by Louis Ferstadt, Jacob Kainen and others. Sub-papers to this will include the Municipal Art Galleries, by Harry Gottlieb and the Position of the Artist in the U.S.S.R., by Louis Lozowick. 3. Fascism, War and Art, will be delivered by Hugo Gellert. Sub-papers will include Art in Fascist Italy, by Margaret Duroc and Art in Nazi Germany, by Kurt Roesch. 

At the Sunday morning session the general topic will be ECONOMIC PROBLEMS OF THE AMERICAN ARTIST. Four major papers are planned. 1. The Economic Status of the Artist Today. Speaker as yet undetermined. 2. The History of Artists' Union of New York, the Chicago Artists' Union, and Art Colonies, the last paper by Doris Lee. 3. Museums, Dealers and Critics, by Ralph Pearson. 4. The Rental Policy of the American Society of Painters, Sculptors and Gravers, by Katherine Schmidt Chairman of the Committee on Rentals of that Society. 

The Sunday afternoon and final session will be devoted entirely to resolutions and the discussion and formulation of plans for a permanent artists' organization on a national scale. 

The above papers will be so planned as to allow ample time for discussion from the floor.