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71 vintage prints by Blaise Tobia have been acquired by the 
photo collection of the New York Public Library. 

They were made in 1978 while he was a member of the documentation 
unit of the NYC CCF CETA Artists Project. 30 additional prints by 
George Malave were acquired as well. 

These photos document the largest federally funded artist employment 
project in the U.S. history outside the New Deal. They depict artists in their 
studios and in community assignments, performances by classical and 
jazz musicians, dancers and dramatic artists, exhibitions and 
public events in all parts of the city.

Nationally, the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act employed 20,000 artists 
and arts professionals during the period 1974-1981. This compares favorably with the 
number of artists employed by the WPA and other New Deal programs in the 1930s, 
yet almost no one has heard of CETA or its role in the arts. Making CETA better known 
is the challenge that has been taken on by the CETA Arts Legacy Project.

Beside being acquired by the New York Public Library, Blaise's Tobia's CETA 
photographs have been included in the exhibitions "Edges of Ailey" 
at the Whitney Museum of American Art (2024), and"Art/Work" at City Lore 
and Cuchifritos galleries in NYC (2021). They have appeared in the 
book Blondell Cummings: Dance as Moving Pictures (Getty Research Institute) 
and the catalog for artist Ellsworth Ausby (Eric Firestone Gallery), and have been used 
in articles in Hyperallergic, The Art Newspaper and aCurator.

photo: Rehearsal for Inner Space/Outer Space at Ellsworth Ausby's Brooklyn studio. April 1978.

For a selection of Blaise Tobia's CETA documentary photographs see this Flickr Album

For more on Blaise Tobia and his recent work and activities please see BlaiseTobia.com.