. >> reporter: rachel chanoff is director of the office, a for- profit new york and lond based performing arts and film production company that conceived the artists for hire pilot and pays each ofhe artists is paid a living wage and ovides them receives healthcare for at least six months while in the program. >> the reason we didn't want to make it a grant, we wanted toge make it a s so that they would, post-program, they would be eligible for unemployment.no >> reporter: c proudly acknowledges that paying artists who've found themselves jobless or struggling financduring the pandemic is entirely uniginal. it's roots are in the w.p.a., the works progress administration estab during the great depression. it employed thousands of artists teaching art classes, creating thter, painting murals and documenting the country thugh photography. it fueled the careers of figures like actor, wrer and director orson welles, painter jacob lawrence and scutor louise nevelson. what did you recognize thatth worked durinw.p.a. and putting artists to work in this country? >> it was a timerehere artists ecog