• Kennedy Department of Justice Building: Shimin Mural - Washington DC
    The New Deal is responsible for a magnificent array of artworks that embellish the Department of Justice building. The Treasury Section of Fine Arts commissioned artists to create 68 murals between 1936 and 1941 for $68,000, or one percent of the building cost.  The building’s murals depict scenes of daily life from American history and allegories on the role of justice in American society. Symeon Shimin painted the mural "Contemporary Justice and the Child" in 1940.  It was restored at one point after moisture in the wall damaged the tempura-on-canvas painting.  "This intricate mural portrays two groups: on the left, the faces of...
  • Post Office Fresco (destroyed) - Tonawanda NY
    The historic post office building in Tonawanda, New York housed an example of New Deal artwork: a Symeon Shimin fresco, title unknown, showing 'contemporary Tonawanda.' The Section of Fine Arts-commissioned work has since been destroyed.