Lexington Sites

Ann Rice O’Hanlon’s was commissioned in 1934 through the Treasury Relief Art Project to create a fresco featured in Memorial Hall on the University of Kentucky’s Lexington campus. "The large fresco in the lobby of Memorial Hall depicts scenes from early Lexington and central Kentucky and images of cultural development. It was completed in 1934 by Ann Rice O'Hanlon, a University of Kentucky graduate..."

The Civil Works Administration built the Blue Grass Airport in Lexington KY. According to the town budget report for 1933, the city share for the airport under CWA was $1,362 as part of a total budget of $22,427 spent in the City by the CWA. In 1946 the first commercial aircraft serve the region via a Delta Air Lines flight on a 21-passenger Douglas DC-3. "Blue Grass Airport is a public airport in Fayette County, Kentucky, United States, 6 miles west of downtown Lexington. Located among world-renowned horse farms and situated directly across from Keeneland Race Course, Blue Grass Airport is the primary...

The WPA built the National Guard Armory in Lexington in 1941. Strong horizontal lines define the 2nd floor, front façade. The design is almost identical to that of the Richmond, Kentucky WPA armory. It is now a police fitness center and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1934, Frank Long completed two murals, entitled "Labor" and "Recreation," for the browsing room of the University of Kentucky library, with funding from the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP). The above photo depicts "Labor," in situ, in 1939. From contributor Charles Swaney: "The murals consist of 2 ten foot tall panels, oil on canvas, that are in arched alcoves. The thrust of both murals is upwards and towards the center of the murals.  There is a strong component of rounded upwards that is complimentary for both of them.  They are presently in the special collections center of the library,...

The since-demolished McLean Stadium of the University of Kentucky was one of many structures that was either constructed or improved with the assistance of federal New Deal funds. "Although unable to secure funding for expanded seating," Eric Moyen writes, the university's Athletic Council "did secure the city of Lexington as a 'project sponsor' for the construction of a press box and running track at the football stadium. The WPA approved a grant in excess of $20,000 for construction, and Lexington paid the remaining $7,000." The site today is known as Stoll Field, the name by which McLean Stadium had been known from...

The University of Kentucky's Student Center, completed 1937, is one of several buildings on the university's campus constructed during the Great Depression with the help of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) financial assistance. The Student Center has since been expanded.