Mitchell Siporin Sites

Among the many Federal Art Project (FAP) funded artworks at Lane Tech High school is a four-panel fresco in the auditorium, "Teaching of the Arts," painted by Mitchell Siporin in 1938. Each panel is 15' x 3'6." From A Guide to Chicago's Murals (2001): "Four vertical panels mounted between the exterior doors of the Lane Tech auditorium describe the teaching of the humanities. They were painted when the school was all male. In each, Mitchell Siporin portrays the figure of a mentor or teacher standing behind that of a young student. For literature, a wise-looking older man with his arm outstretched gently...

The post office contains nine stunning murals by artists Edward Millman and Mitchell Siporin. Depicting the "cycle on history of the region," this massive project was the largest single project awarded for a Post Office by the Treasury Section. The award shared by the 2 was $29,000. The labels following each mural describe the contents quite well, but as Park and Markowitz noted, the works were not depicting the usual classical conquest, but instead showed Indians and Black slaves working the lead mines well before statehood, the Dred Scott Decision, and the struggles during and after the Civil War. The...

The Decatur post office contains several Treasury Section of Fine Arts murals by Edward Millman, Mitchell Siporin and Edgar Britton. The murals were completed in 1938. Three different halls in the post office contain murals by each artist respectively. Edward Millman Murals: One hall contains a series of three murals, consisting of two panels each, by Edward Millman. The murals are titled “Early Pioneers,” Social Consciousness,” and “Growth of Democracy in Illinois.” The murals show early pioneers and the development of social consciousness, but do so by showing the suffering of soldiers, Indians, blacks, and the common man. A judge or politician dressed...