Charles Sheeler

• While Art Deco, flapper dresses, & jazz glistened the cities, some artists ventured to the steel mills, auto plants, and docks
• To create their life's work
• I saw this piece in 2016, & it's always stuck with me
• River Rouge Plant | 1932 | Whitney Museum

Art Motifs

• Just as art today features themes of big tech, AI, VR/AR, humanoid robots
• Art of the 1930s often featured heavy industry, the engine of the economy
• America Today | Thomas Hart Benton | 1930-31 | The Met NYC

Wealth from Steel

• Andrew Carnegie changed landscape of American education
• 1,689 of Carnegie libraries opened through the US ... many still open today
• As well as funding of Carnegie Mellon & many other foundations
• From factories to fine arts ... steel impacted culture

Steel Country

• We don't think about US as a steel powerhouse today
• But in early 1900s ... steel was a vital business
• Pittsburgh: top 10 city in population in 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940 vs 68th today
• To this day, the America is reminded of Pittsburgh Steel heritage in NFL

... After the tweet thread ...

• Decided to animate the billowing smoke, note due to the nature of generative art ... the buildings and chimneys differ in the video and still