CCC ART – Reima Victor Ratti – Artists of the Civilian Conservation Corps is now available at: B&N, Amazon and soon will be available at the Bess Bower Dunn Museum.
This is a story of a young, New Deal artist with a romantic name, Reima Ratti. Born in Waukegan, Illinois in 1914, he was like so many young boys of his generation. Young men who came of age during the jobless years of the Great Depression. Ratti joined the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) as a regular enrollee to help himself and his family. As a trained, but untried artist, he brought along his sketchpad, pencils and brushes. What transpired, during his CCC artist days and beyond, would set him on a path to history.
“I have heard much about the CCC artists and the fine work they have done. I would very much like to be a CCC artist myself.” Reima Ratti 1936