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Date added: September 11, 2010; Modified: April 1, 2024
Originally the San Diego Civic Center (now the County Administration Center), it was built on 19 acres of filled tidelands. Inscribed on the portal is the motto: ‘The Noblest Motive is the Public Good’. FDR dedicated the civic center on… read more
Date added: November 21, 2014; Modified: March 25, 2024
“In December 1926, the [San Diego] Board of Supervisors passed a resolution declaring ‘the necessity for the erection of a public building’ for both the City and the County. As a result, three countywide votes were taken to approve the… read more
Date added: May 19, 2010; Modified: March 25, 2024
Frederick Schweigardt (1885 – 1948) was a student of the Stuttgart and Munich art academies in Germany, Schweigardt also studied with Auguste Rodin in Paris, where he received first prize at the Paris Exposition of 1913. Schweigardt was named the… read more
Date added: July 24, 2009; Modified: March 25, 2024
The current Balboa Park Club was built in 1915 as the New Mexico building for the Panama-Pacific Exhibition. It was redesigned by the WPA for the 1935-6 California Pacific International Exposition.
Date added: June 29, 2011; Modified: March 25, 2024
Two oil on canvas murals, entitled “Farm Landscape” and “Point Loma,” were painted by Charles Reiffel on a commission from the WPA Federal Art Project in 1937. They were originally installed at Memorial Junior High School and now hang in… read more
Date added: June 20, 2010; Modified: March 25, 2024
Built by the WPA. Originally called the Federal Building and then the Hall of Champions.
Date added: February 8, 2010; Modified: March 25, 2024
The WPA Federal Arts Project funded this petrochrome mural. The date and artist are unknown to us.
Date added: October 12, 2014; Modified: March 25, 2024
“The Grand March” petrachrome mural was created in 1940 with funding from the WPA Federal Art Project. The artist is unknown to the Living New Deal.
Date added: June 26, 2008; Modified: March 25, 2024
The WPA built an adobe wall around Calvary Cemetery in Mission Hills, the oldest civilian cemetery in San Diego. The cemetery is now park of Pioneer Park.
Date added: June 15, 2010; Modified: March 25, 2024
Among its many projects at the zoo, the WPA built these aviaries.
Date added: June 26, 2008; Modified: January 9, 2024
In 1931, the San Diego Teachers College moved to a new site on Montezuma Mesa northeast of the city. The college changed its name to San Diego State College in 1935. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) did major development work… read more
Date added: June 18, 2008; Modified: October 15, 2023
Belle Baranceanu painted two oil on canvas murals at Balboa Park in 1935, paid for with federal funding: “Progress of Man” and “Education and Culture”. She rushed to complete the later for the 1935-1936 California Pacific International Exposition and would… read more
Date added: July 8, 2008; Modified: April 6, 2019
The “Guardian of Water” is a granite sculpture, with a mosaic and frieze around the base. It was created by Donal Hord in 1939, with support from the WPA. The sculpture is a 23′ high figure of a woman holding… read more
Date added: June 29, 2011; Modified: August 15, 2017
Archibald Garner won the Treasury funded competition for ornamentation of the San Diego Post Office and produced these nine glazed, terra-cotta relief panels illustrating the theme “Transportation of the Mail.”
Date added: February 6, 2010; Modified: April 12, 2017
From the archive photo descriptions of this WPA built station: “The fire station was a new construction project, building forms, placing reinforced steel and pouring concrete. The ground floor of the building measures 50×85 feet. The main part of the… read more