Our Logo

The logo of the Center for American Music is adopted from a concert poster produced in 1937 by the Works’ Progress Administration, an initiative of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal. The striking image (which was originally burnt orange) was used to advertise the Composers’ Forum-Laboratory Concerts in New York City. Founded in 1935, this series of concerts promoted contemporary American music with the hope of making modern music more accessible to the listening public. Evenings were generally devoted to the music of a single composer, who would answer questions from the audience after the concert.

The original poster is housed at the Library of Congress as part of a collection titled By the People, For the People: Posters from the WPA, 1936-1943. With some 900 posters, this archive is the single largest collection of posters produced by the WPA.

The Center is grateful to Greg Geisler for redrawing this image for our use.

About Us

The history behind our logo

Address:
University of Texas at Austin
School of Music
1 University Station, E3100
Austin, Texas 78712

Street address for express or package delivery: 25th and East Campus Drive

Center email:
AmericanMusic@mail.music.utexas.edu