Bessie Pierce Heller Sites

Suzanne Miller painted a nine-panel series of murals in 1937 under the auspices of the WPA Federal Art Project (FAP). Known both as "Children's Stories" and "Scenes from English Language Literature," the murals were originally located at the old Lincoln Park Main Library in Long Beach, CA. After it burned down, the murals were relocated to the new Billie Jean King Main Library. The murals include scenes drawn from Hiawatha (Longfellow), Il Penseroso (Milton), Vicar of Wakefield (Goldsmith), Rip Van Winkle (Irving), King Solomon (Old Testament), Man with the Hoe (Markham), Alice in Wonderland (Carroll), Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard...

In 1937, Bessie Heller designed a pair of tile mosaics for wall fountains at Mountain View High School in El Monte, CA. Heller received funding from the Federal Art Project (FAP). Heller worked in the art department at MGM Studios. Her other FAP works in the region include a mural, "The Map Makers of the World" (1939), at Virgil Middle School in Los Angeles, CA.

In 1939, Bessie Pierce Heller (assisted by Grace Measham) painted a mural, "The Map Makers of the World," for Virgil Middle School in Los Angeles, CA. The mural, a two-panel encaustic fresco located in the school library, received funding from the WPA Federal Art Project (FAP). The south wall features Leif Erickson landing on Vineland, Marco Polo at the court of Kublai Khan, and Columbus landing on the Bahamas. The north wall features Magellan passing through stormy straits, Captain Cook exploring the South Sea Islands, and Admiral Byrd in Antarctica. The mural is signed “Federal Art Project W.P.A. ‘39” on the...