Ethel Magafan Sites

The Wilbur J. Cohen building, originally built for the Social Security Administration in 1938-1940, is home to a magnificent collection of social security themed artworks funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. One of the lesser-known artworks is a mural by Jenne and Ethel Magafan, "Mountains in Snow." (c. 1942) Two other murals have been removed and are now stored at the National Museum of American Art: Dorothy and Fred Farr, "Sports Related to Food" (1942). Gertrude Goodrich mural, originally placed around the four walls of the cafeteria, depicting typical activities in four parts of the country (1943).    

The historic New Deal post office in Auburn, Nebraska contains a Treasury Section of Fine Arts mural entitled “Threshing” painted by Ethel Magafan in 1938. She also painted a mural for the Wynne, Arkansas and Madill, OK post offices. "Ethel Magafan, the artist who created this mural, studied at Colorado Springs Fine Art Center at the same time as Nebraska muralist Edward Chavez. Her sister Jenne also painted a Nebraska mural for the town of Albion. Ethel was in her early twenties when she painted this mural. Of the program's 850 commissions for murals, only approximately one-sixth were awarded to women...

The mural "Prairie Fire" was commissioned by the federal Treasury Section of Fine Arts. The tempera work was completed by Ethel Magafan and installed in the lobby of the historic Madill post office in 1941. It is still visible today.

Section of Fine Arts mural entitled "Cotton Pickers" painted by Ethel Magafan in 1940 for the Wynne, Arkansas post office. "Ethel Magafan was commissioned for $560 to create a mural for Wynne, Arkansas as a result of an Honorable Mention in a Section of Fine Arts competition. She visited town and composed numerous sketches of the people as they worked in the cotton fields. Magafan installed the mural with the help of her twin sister Jenne. The color sketch for the composition was exhibited at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center and the black and white cartoon was displayed at the...

“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 of...

Ethel Magafan painted this mural, entitled "The Horse Corral," in 1942 for the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.