ENCORE: Celebrating New Deal History at Samohi

Due to popular demand, the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District and the Santa Monica Conservancy are extending a second invitation to the public to view Samohi’s New Deal art collection and artifacts on Saturday and Sunday, December 27 and 28^th, from noon to 4 PM.Samohi has the most comprehensive collection of artworks from the New Deal in Santa Monica, which includes sculpture, art objects, mosaics and paintings. Produced under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s  Works Progress Administration/Federal Art Project, artists were commissioned and paid to create public artworks, providing them with critical economic opportunities during the Depression. The paintings now exhibited at the Roberts Art Gallery at Samohi are rarely displayed and will be on view only through December. Visitors are also invited to view the Viking Statue and Senior Bench, New Deal artworks recently relocated and restored, which received a 2025 Preservation Award from the Santa Monica Conservancy.

The Samohi campus was rebuilt in the 1930s due to several converging historic events: the catastrophic Long Beach earthquake of 1933, which devastated our schools; the passage of the Field Act, requiring strict new building codes for seismic safety; and the availability of Federal funds from a variety of New Deal economic recovery programs. Today’s campus reflects a more recent Master Plan; however, the preservation of New Deal art and artifacts retains essential links to Samohi’s history.

Santa Monica was transformed during the New Deal with major public works and renovation projects. Our City Hall, Main Post Office, St. Monica Statue, Colorado Viaduct, California Incline, Roosevelt Highway, reconstructed public schools, and less visible water management projects were some of the results.

Entry will be through the 4^th Street gate, and at Olympic and 6^th Street gate (some parking may be available).