Lottery Wheel c. 1938

Al Curry created this watercolor of a ‘Lottery Wheel’ sometime during his lifetime from 1855 to 1995. Curry was an American artist who worked for the Index of American Design, a New Deal program which employed artists to document American decorative and folk arts. This image isn’t just a straightforward depiction of a lottery wheel; it encapsulates a complex narrative of chance, aspiration, and the socio-economic conditions that make the lottery a recurring theme in American life. Lotteries often prey on the dreams of those in marginalized communities who see it as a way out of poverty, offering a tantalizing possibility of upward mobility, while also highlighting issues of economic inequality and the psychological weight of financial instability. The lottery wheel, rendered with meticulous detail, embodies both the allure and the illusion of opportunity. It’s a potent symbol of American society’s promises, and its discontents.