See America United States Travel Bureau

This WPA Federal Art Project poster features the natural splendor of Utah's Arches National Park, depicting the dramatic Double Arch formation with horseback riders providing scale to emphasize the monument's overwhelming grandeur. Created around 1936 by artist Frank S. Nicholson as part of the broader "See America" campaign, the poster represents the Roosevelt administration's coordinated effort to promote domestic tourism during the Great Depression. By encouraging Americans to explore their own country's national parks and scenic wonders rather than travel abroad, the campaign served multiple New Deal objectives: providing employment for artists, stimulating local economies through increased tourism, and fostering national pride through appreciation of America's natural heritage.

The poster's emphasis on the American West's geological marvels reflects a longer tradition of using spectacular landscapes to construct national identity, with natural wonders serving as cultural patrimony for a relatively young nation lacking Europe's ancient architectural monuments. The WPA's artistic promotion of national parks built upon earlier conservation efforts by Theodore Roosevelt and others who recognized these landscapes' value for public recreation and national morale. The stylized, modernist aesthetic—simplified forms, bold colors, dramatic composition—made high-quality design accessible to mass audiences through inexpensive prints distributed widely. This democratization of art and nature epitomized New Deal philosophy that both cultural and environmental resources should serve the public good rather than remain exclusive preserves of the wealthy. The poster documents a pivotal moment when government actively shaped leisure patterns to serve economic recovery while cultivating shared appreciation for America's natural patrimony.