Jo Mora Sites

"In 1937 construction was begun on the high school auditorium. It was to cost $179,000. Designed in a classic Greek rotunda rather than a traditional shape by famed architect Robert Stanton, it was completed in March of 1939." The auditorium, also known as the Robert Stanton Theater, is on the National Register of Historical Places, and was awarded with a 2005 Art Deco Preservation Award from the Art Deco Society of California.

Jo Mora created the cement bas relief, entitled "Theater Through the Ages," in 1937 for the exterior of the school auditorium then under construction. The sculpture was funded by the WPA Federal Art Project. He also created a 2′ by 2’6″ aluminum bas relief for the interior of the auditorium entitled "The Spirit of Music."

The Public Works Administration (PWA) helped fund construction of the magnificent Monterey County courthouse in downtown Salinas, California, which opened in 1937. New Deal funds supplemented a local bond issue to cover the cost of this large building, which covers a square block.   The cornerstone makes it clear that New Deal funding came from the PWA, not the Works Progress Administration (WPA), as claimed by the nearby historical marker. This is a common mistake, given the similarity of PWA and WPA. Robert Stanton was the architect and the design is Classical Moderne.  It was built with a large courtyard, which originally surrounded...

Prominent California artist Jo Mora produced twenty-three cast-concrete, bas-relief busts (approximately 12" x 18" in size) for the exterior of the Monterey County Courthouse.  The reliefs appear in the spandrels between first and second story windows all around the building and in the courtyard. The work is titled "California Faces" and represents 23 types of people who were important in California history, which Mora called:   Indian Man, Indian Woman, Junipero Serra, Juan Cabrillo, John Fremont, Pioneer Man, Pioneer Woman, Spanish Woman, Asian Woman. The project was funded by the Federal Art Project (FAP), an arm of the Works Progress Administration, and installed in 1937. While we might not make the same choices of...

Prominent California artist Jo Mora crafted six bas-relief capitals for the tall pillars the main interior courtyard entrance to the Monterey County Courthouse in Salinas, California.  The sculpture depict scenes from early California history, featuring indigenous people, Mexican Californios, mission neophytes and fishermen. These sculptures were done with a grant from the Federal Art Project (FAP), a branch of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), in 1937. The building and its sculptures were placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009 and renovated in 2018.

California artist Jo Mora created five concrete bas-reliefs of historic scenes for the Monterey County Courthouse, as well as of a large female figure with a sword. The five historic scenes are mounted over the main entrance doors to the courthouse on the west side of the interior courtyard.  They are stylized representations of, from left to right, native people, conquistadores, friar and Mission neophytes, Anglo-American settlers and various athletes. The female figure is over the exterior door on the east side of the building and appears to be a stylized, classical figure of justice. This group of artworks was funded by the...

California artist Jo Mora created a sculpted pillar with several brass bas-reliefs of historic scenes for the decorative fountain in the courtyard of the Monterey County Courthouse. This and the other Jo Mora artworks on the exterior of the courthouse were funded by the Federal Art Project (FAP), an arm of the Works Progress Administration, and completed in 1937. The building and its art works were placed on the National Register in 2008.  It was renovated in 2018 and the former fountain is now a planter with drought-tolerant species.