• Clinton Federal Building: Reliefs and Sculptures - Washington DC
    The William Jefferson Clinton Federal Building, originally the US Post Office Department, was begun under the Hoover Administration and completed under the New Deal in 1934.  It is richly decorated with New Deal artworks paid for by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. There are 25 murals and 22 sculptural elements: 12 bas-reliefs, 2 statues, and 8 carved wood medallions. The building serves today as the headquarters for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  It includes a local branch post office, called Benjamin Franklin Station, on Pennsylvania Avenue, that is open to the public; but entry to the rest of the building...
  • National Postal Museum: Zorach Sculpture - Washington DC
    William Zorach was commissioned by the New Deal’s Treasury Section of Fine Arts to create the statue “Benjamin Franklin.” The statue was made out of marble, and Zorach was paid $8,000 for the job. This artwork was created for the headquarters of the U.S. Post Office Department—today’s Clinton Federal Building—and now resides in the National Postal Museum (and the museum itself served as the main post office—not to be confused with the headquarters building—for Washington, DC from 1914-1986). The Treasury Section of Fine Arts existed from 1934 to 1943. It was initially called the “Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture”; then...
  • Post Office and Courthouse Reliefs - Greeneville TN
    The former Greenville Tennessee post office and courthouse at 101 W Summer St. was built in 1904. In 1939, William Zorach installed two wooden carved reliefs depicting "The Resources of Nature" and "Man Power." The carvings were funded by the Federal Works Agency. After the old post office and courthouse became a private bank, the reliefs were moved to the current courthouse at this location.
  • Post Office Relief - Stoneham MA
    The Terra Cotta relief entitled "Shoemakers of Stoneham" was carved by William Zorach as a part of the New Deal Section of Fine Arts program funded by the Treasury Department. “ depicts three men diligently working away constructing shoes. Around them are the tools of their trade: knives, awls, lasting hammers, thread, leather, wooden lasts, pincers, stirrups and lapstones…” “In selecting a theme for the new Post Office in Stoneham, William Zorach chose to celebrate the skilled artisans of Stoneham's pre-industrial past. The three shoemakers depicted in the wall sculpture above the Post Master's door hearken back to a time when...