I chose this picture because it was something different. I wanted to find something beyond the many stories and photos of the negative and desperate times of the 1930’s. I really loved the idea of supporting the artists and finding ways to put them back to work, and subsequently, better the struggling nation at the same time.
I was able to determine that this pane of glass was for Washington Hall at the US Military Academy, West Point. A Works Progress Administration employee was there in 1936 to document Ennis’s progress on the stained glass. As a military spouse seeing the WPA and New Deal conducting work at West Point was a great crossover. There has always been a sense of pride for the US Military, except maybe in the Johnson/ Vietnam era, and seeing that this kind of work was taking place is good to know and see. It seems to be purely documentary, for the WPA without any additional intended meanings for the audience. While the photo is on paper it reveals that there were MANY different mediums for artists to work with and be a part of during the New Deal Era. Stained glass isn’t as commonplace as murals or posters but it does have its place.
I’d like to see the final project for Ennis’s work. Washington Hall is the cadet mess hall now, and I am sure that many cadets pass by this alcove without appreciating the work that went into it. I was able to find pictures of the completed stained glass alcove but not from a great angle. The costume the model is wearing is in the colonial and Early American Military so it fits into the context of its location. 
Looking at the glitched version of George Pearse Ennis’s progress I found it was hardly distinguishable. I thought that was ironic as it was difficult to find a modern image of this work. In today’s world we often think we can find a picture of a famous place really easily. I thought for certain that just a quick google search would yield a color, hi-def picture of Ennis’s work. The best I could find was a full image of the larger stained glass piece, the pane in question is barely visible in the bottom left corner. I feel like it is lost to history, like so many of the projects completed in the New Deal Era.
Glitching the image had me asking new questions.
Why is something so beautiful and took so much work to complete not a focal point? I think that it has just faded into the background, just like the image I created. I looked at the New Deal site map for our next skills assignment and most of the sites are little known, some overtaken by the local flora. They have all faded into the background. I have heard stories about “America’s crumbling infrastructure”, and I assume most of these dilapidated bridges, and roads were built during the New Deal Era by New Deal agencies. How much of our history is forgotten? Faded and overtaken by new scandals and stories. The glitched version is a visual representation of the ways that history is corrupted, and how reality fades into the past. It’s difficult to see what the original image actually is. Many times we look at history and have few clues to what actually happened, all we see is the result. This glitch seems to perfectly illustrate that.
The glitching process helped me step outside the box and look at it from a completely different angle. I admit I was a skeptic when we first discussed this in class, but I really see the value now. By taking the same image and altering it so much, it allows for the creative process to flow and historians ask new questions.
http://jessicadoeshistory.com/cnd/exhibits/show/georgeennisstainedglass
