• Post Office - Wrangell AK
    The historic U.S. Post Office and Customs House in Wrangell, Alaska was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds. The building, which was completed in 1942, houses an example of New Deal artwork and is still in use today.
  • Post Office Mural - Portland CT
    This oil-on-canvas Section of Fine Arts mural entitled “Shade Grown Tobacco” was painted in 1942 by Austin Mecklem. Shade grown tobacco was an important Connecticut crop in the first part of the twentieth century, most often used as binding wrapper for high quality cigars. "The Connecticut River valley between Portland, CT, and Brattleboro, VT, became known as “Tobacco Valley” in the early 1900’s, when as much as 38,000 acres were under cultivation. Today, about 2,500 acres of tobacco are grown and harvested in the state." (North Central News)
  • Post Office Mural - Wrangell AK
    The historic post office in Wrangell, Alaska houses an example of New Deal artwork: "Old Town in Alaska," commissioned by the federal Treasury Section of Fine Arts. Austin Mecklem and Marianne Appel (husband and wife) painted the Wrangell mural in 1943 in NY state. It was shipped via railway on Oct 19, 1943 and arrived in Wrangell AK early December 1943. A telegram dated October 20, 1943 stated the Mr. Arnold Prusi installed the mural the previous week."
  • Recorder of Deeds Building: Mecklem Mural - Washington DC
    “Although the ROD Building was a municipal building, the District of Columbia's peculiar sovereignty status required that the federal government approve its construction, and that the Treasury Department Section of Fine Art play a major role in its art program… The Treasury Sections December 1, 1942 announcement of the ROD Building mural competition was a term paper-like, ten page document that required artists to submit their entries unsigned for anonymous judging A press release announced that the winners wide geographic dispersion and almost equal female-male ratio, as well as the inclusion of accomplished African-American painter William Edouard Scott, proved the fairness...