Federal Arts Project (FAP) Sites

In the mid 1930s, Agnes Tait completed work on the mural entitled "Summer Holiday" for the women’s recreation room in the Psychiatric Building of Bellevue Hospital. Tait was one of over a dozen artists commissioned by the Federal Art Project arm of the Works Progress Administration (WPA/FAP) to paint a series of murals for the Psychiatric Building at Bellevue Hospital. We learn from the brief survey of Tait's career on her webpage that she "...produced some of her best-known works during the Depression era including the frequently reproduced painting Skating in Central Park, a set of murals for Belleview Hospital in New York,...

Artist Jason Herron sculpted "Modern Youth" for Belmont Senior High School in Los Angeles, CA, with Federal Arts Project (FAP) funds. Originally located on the school's front lawn and currently found in the entryway, the sculpture "represents the scholastic interests as well as the athletic accomplishments of young people today" (Wells, p. 25). It depicts a boy with a book in his right hand and a globe against his left hip. He sits on a two-tiered base with the inscription "WPA/Federal Art Project/1937." According to a 1937 article in the Los Angeles School Journal, "Jason Herron is a young lady whose art...

In 1937, Raymond Noble painted a mural for Belmont High School in Los Angeles, CA. He received funding from the Federal Art Project (FAP).

Artist Stanley Spohn designed a tile mosaic for a drinking fountain at Belmont High School in Los Angeles, CA. He received funding from the Federal Arts Project (FAP). Spohn described the mosaic as being "handled in a manner reminiscent of the Persian rather than the Italian School, which conforms with Umbrian type of architecture in color and in its vertical and horizontal arrangement of the tessera method of making mosaic. "It portrays four of the intellectual achievements. Science is shown by a conventionalized microscope on the observation platform of which there is a crystal, suggestive of the polarization of light. Behind the...

"The Legend of El Diablo" "...is an oil painting on masonite done by Clarkson Dye (FAP/WPA Project #7754). It measures 42-1/4" x 52-1/2" and hangs in the second floor legislative meeting room. Originally this painting was installed at Mt. Diablo State Park, but was moved to the old State Capital Building after restoration."

The former Benjamin Franklin Middle School in Norwalk, Connecticut houses two 15' x 11' oil on canvas murals by Harry Townsend, titled "Work, the Soul of Progress" and “Arrival of the First Settlers.” They were painted in 1938 for the building, then Norwalk's newly completed high school, under the WPA's Federal Art Project. They are located in the building's auditorium. Restoration Info: Property of City of Norwalk, CT, WPA Art Collection This school has closed and it is now the Crystal Theatre. Arrangements to see the murals can be made by calling the Crystal Theatre at 203-847-4850.

The Bennett School contains this WPA mural "History of Books" by Gustaf Dahlstrom, a 4'6" x 70' oil on canvas frieze in 15 sections. The frieze was restored in 2000.

The Bennett School contains a mural "Children's Subjects" by Grace Spongberg, depicting four subjects: 1) Art, 2) History, 3) Science, 4) Music Medium: oil on canvas Size: 4 panels, each 11' x 6' Restoration Info: Restored 2001

Walt Disney contributed drawings for WPA murals at the former Benton Grammar School (the school he attended as a boy, later renamed D.A. Holmes Elementary). The murals were completed by WPA artists and delighted children for decades. The school was located on East 30th Street between Benton Blvd. and Chestnut Ave., and is now a senior living facility.

The entrance to Berkeley Community Theater on the interior courtyard of Berkeley High School is adorned by two cast stone bas-relief sculptures by Lulu Braghetta. On is female, with "Drama, Dance, Music" inscribed in relief, and the other is male, with "Poetry, Painting" lettered beside the figure.   The panels were paid for by the Federal Arts Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1940 but not added to the building until its (delayed) completion in 1950.

The G Building of Berkeley High School sports a large group of cast stone bas-relief sculptures on the exterior.  The artist was Lulu Braghetta, who worked under the auspices of the Federal Art Project (FAP) of the Works Progress Administration.  The reliefs were installed in 1940. Building G was originally part of the Industrial Arts and Sciences buildings and the Braghetta bas-reliefs portray scenes pertaining to science and the industrial arts. Some have figures (including one woman) and others are representations of carpentry, electricity, motors, engineering and machining.  They decorate all sides of the building

Berkeley High School's Community Theater is adorned with cast stone bas-relief sculptures by Robert Howard, son of architect John Galen Howard.  The sculptures are on the exterior side of the building, along Allston Way and facing the Berkeley Civic Center park. The central panel is around 30 feet high and contains a rich group of figures illustrating people of all races coming together through the arts. On each side is a panel of a herald  blowing a trumpet, one male and one female, and the man is apparently African American. The panels were paid for by the Federal Arts Project of the...

Jacques Schnier created the impressive bas-relief sculpture, "St. George and the Dragon", that fills a huge space on the west (exterior) side of Berkeley High School's building H (a former Science and Industrial Arts Building), which faces Martin Luther King Jr. Way. The sculpture also contains the inspirational inscription, "You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." The work was paid for by the Federal Art Project (FAP) of the Works Progress Administration, as were the other sculptures on Berkeley High School.  It was mounted c. 1940.  

In 1937, artist P. G. Napolitano painted a fresco panel for Beverly Hills High School in Beverly Hills, CA. The fresco, located in the school's music room, was funded by the Federal Art Project (FAP). “Mr. Napolitano’s main interest has always been in murals, which he executes in tempra (egg white), in frescoes, and in Sgraffito which he introduced here in creative work. Much of his work is marked by the omission of pretty detail and mere decorativeness until only the essential stand out; economy of line, rhythm, and strength are the three uppermost qualities” (Wells, p. 22). Napolitano's other FAP...

Suzanne Miller painted a nine-panel series of murals in 1937 under the auspices of the WPA Federal Art Project (FAP). Known both as "Children's Stories" and "Scenes from English Language Literature," the murals were originally located at the old Lincoln Park Main Library in Long Beach, CA. After it burned down, the murals were relocated to the new Billie Jean King Main Library. The murals include scenes drawn from Hiawatha (Longfellow), Il Penseroso (Milton), Vicar of Wakefield (Goldsmith), Rip Van Winkle (Irving), King Solomon (Old Testament), Man with the Hoe (Markham), Alice in Wonderland (Carroll), Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard...

"Occupational Studies and Their Application" This fresco of six 9' x 4'6" panels was painted with the help of New Deal funds.

The Board of Water and Light Dye Conditioning Plant in Lansing, Michigan contains multiple examples of New Deal artwork, including a ceramic fountain in the building's main lobby. "The grand two-story lobby of the Board of Water and Light houses a ceramic fountain by Clivia Calder. This sculptural group shows two girls grooming themselves. The flanking stairs with streamlined metal railings are graceful interpretations of machines, also found elsewhere in the plant."

The Board of Water and Light Dye Conditioning Plant in Lansing, Michigan contains multiple examples of New Deal artwork, including: "Aquarius," a limestone relief created in 1938-39 by Samuel Cashwan. The massive work is located above the building's front entrance.

The Board of Water and Light Dye Conditioning Plant in Lansing, Michigan contains multiple examples of New Deal artwork, including: "Water As Destructive Element" and " Beneficial Force of Water," two murals created in 1940 by Frank Cassara. "The upper lobby features three large panels, of which the outer two are by Frank Cassara. Water as Destructive Element (on the right) depicts flooding and Beneficial Force of Water (on the left) shows water's advantages for health, cleanliness and recreation."  

The Board of Water and Light Dye Conditioning Plant in Lansing, Michigan contains multiple examples of New Deal artwork, including: "Water as Hydro-Electric Power," a 1941 mural by Charles Pollock. "Charles Pollock's 1941 mural in the center shows man's control over nature and the importance of water as hydro-electric power. The figures represent agriculture and industry, and the use of plastics and agricultural chemistry, refer to the research and work activities undertaken in this building"

"Soldiers and Sailors is a three panel painted mural in the vestibule of Bob Hope Patriotic Hall. Created in 1942 as part of the WPA Art Project, the mural depicts the United States’ military uniforms from 1776 through 1941. Helen Lundeberg also created three WPA murals in 1942 for Patriotic Hall but those have since been lost." (LACounty Arts Commission.)    

The historic Emerson Borough Hall houses numerous (11) examples of New Deal artwork commissioned by the Federal Art Project (FAP). "Three of the murals are located in the Lower Level Conference Room; one in the Gun Room; one in the Radio Room; four in the two previously utilized jail cells, now part of the Evidence Locker; and one large mural in the former stage area." The murals, listed on the Certification of Eligibility, are: Located on the basement level in the former fireman's lounge: — "Call back the years" — "All right you guys, break it up" — "Pepe's Gang" — "Firefighters of the Gay Nineties" —...

"During May and June 1946, two 900-square-foot murals depicting three centuries of local history were unceremoniously removed from the cavernous two-story rotunda of Brooklyn Borough Hall less than a decade after their creation. The murals, titled "Brooklyn Past and Present," were the work of a relatively unknown artist named Alois Fabry Jr., who had been commissioned to produce them through the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration. Sprawling and detailed, interspersed with touches of whimsy and based on three months of prodigious research, they imbued the borough's central administrative office building with a sweeping monumentality." The murals are missing and...

The Boundary County Courthouse is the site of three friezes, all created by Fletcher Martin in 1940 for the Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project (WPA-FAP) and viewable on the front of the courthouse. They are officially untitled but are known by what they depict; "Floating Logs,"  "Harvest," and "Mining." Mining, farming, and the timber industry were all "staple industries of the area." (waymarking.com)

The front of the High School Sports Stadium in International Falls, MN, features a bold, concrete relief sculpture of 1940's-era athletes created by a Minnesota-born sculptor named Evelyn Raymond. Raymond created the sculpture through the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project.

Brooklyn College Library contains two WPA Federal Arts Project murals entitled "Famous Libraries of the World" painted by Olindo Mario Ricci in 1936-1939. A plaque on the wall near the murals reads: "Gracing the Library's grandest reading room are murals of two of the ancient world's greatest libraries: Egypt's Alexandrian Library and Rome's Augustan Library. Muralist Olindo Maria Ricci wanted students to 'feel as if they are in the company of the greats as they read the classics' and thus included many illustrious figures, including the mathematician Euclid and the poet Virgil.  Ricci began the murals as a WPA artist and completed them...

Under the WPA Federal Arts Project, artist Monty Lewis installed a large double fresco depicting "The Cotton Industry in Contemporary America" in 1936. The fresco may be in the auditorium or in a corridor. At the time of installation, this building was the High School of Industrial Arts. It later became the Sarah J. Hale High School and then, in 2001, the Brooklyn High School of the Arts.

In 1936, "when the United States was still reeling from the Great Depression, a series of murals was commissioned by the Federal Art Project (FAP), to be painted in the community rooms at the Williamsburg Public Housing development in Brooklyn, NY. This development was built in 1936-37, designed by the chief architect William Lescaze. The head of the New York Murals of the FAP division in 1937 was Burgoyne Diller. It was a brave move to commission a series of abstract murals from avant-garde, relatively unknown artists. At the time, most murals (perhaps all) were figurative... The artists whose murals were found in the...

Andrene Kauffman painted two murals for the Burbank School under the auspices of the WPA Federal Art Project. "Circus," composed of two 10' x 10' panels, is located in the school auditorium. "Incidents in the Life of Luther Burbank," composed of two 4' x 20' panels, is located in room 104.

This 6' X 68' mural, painted by Frederick Alexander Pawla (1877-1964) with Federal Art Project (FAP) funds, was removed and reinstalled with some controversy in 1973. " It was commissioned by the W.P.A. (Works Progress Administration), and its six-foot-tall canvas panels framed the entrance to the auditorium." (telenaut.com)  

With funding from the New Deal's Federal Art Project, C. S. Price painted a 21 x 4 foot mural for the newly constructed Pendleton Junior High School in 1937. Titled "Agriculture," the five panel composition draws upon images of farming and ranching life that characterized many of his paintings. The theme also suited Pendleton's cultural and economic base. Although originally located in Pendleton's junior high school, the mural hangs in the foyer of the Pendleton High School auditorium today. Clayton Sumner Price, known as C.S. Price, grew up in a large farming family in Iowa, Wyoming, and Alberta and worked on...

In 1542 Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo became the first European explorer to see the coast of California. This statue of the explorer "Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo" was made in cast concrete by Henry Lion in 1936. It was a Federal Art Project. It stands on the shore near the San Pedro Breakwater.

These two wood carvings by Sargent Johnson were moved from the school's former site in Berkeley. "Jungle Scenes," hanging over the reception desk, consists of two 8' x 4' lunettes made of mahogany with gold leaf. "Louis Braille" is 4' x 2.5' and hangs in the library.

In 1937, Lucile Lloyd (assisted by Ben Messick) completed a mural, "Origin and Development of the Name of the State of California," for the State Building in Los Angeles, CA. The mural received funding from the Federal Art Project (FAP). In fact, Lloyd was the first woman in Southern California to receive a FAP commission. The mural's three panels "tell the history of the name of California. The two side panels portray important flags that have flown over the state. The central panel shows the history and development of the state through the Spanish, Mexican, and American eras. Realistic figures trace...

From the school website: "In the 1930s the famous WPA Murals, under the direction of Grant Wood, were painted for the walls of Callanan. The school was fortunate to be chosen to have two such artistic treasures to beautify the upper portion of each stairway. The south mural Nation at Work' was painted by George Grooms in 1936. The north mural 'Nation at Play' was by Glen Chamberlain and dated to 1937. Each mural made a statement about preparing young people for participation the the adult world. They were viewed as a patriotic reflection of President Roosevelt’s aim to get all...

In 1939, artist George Henry Melcher completed an oil on canvas painting titled "Across the Lagoon, Malibu" for Canoga Park High School in Canoga Park, CA. Located in the school's Board Room, the painting depicts an ocean lagoon, with small green islets scattered in the bay. It is framed in a wood frame measuring 36-1/2 x 30-1/4 inches. A label on the back reads: "Federal Art Project, FAP #8864, 'Across the Lagoon, Malibu', Artist: Geo. H. Melcher, BCVD 8/14/39 24 x 30".

The metal relief at the Carmel Firehouse in Carmel CA was funded by the Federal Art Project (FAP). It was installed the year after the completion of the firehouse (1937) and sits above the fireplace on the east wall of the second-story meeting space. This metal relief of an early firetruck was designed by Clay Spohn and executed by Alonzo Chard, similar to another WPA project executed for the Adobe building in Castro Valley, CA. The scene pictured is that of a horse drawn firetruck with a steam pumper. The horses are running to a fire in a 3-story house on the...

These two elaborate hanging light fixtures supply primary lighting to the large meeting room on the second floor of the Carmel firehouse, a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project.  They were produced separately by Otto Koehler as a project of the Monterey WPA's Federal Art Project (FAP). We believe they were hung as the building was completed in 1937. The light fixtures have a hexagonal shape, copper sides and top with a high relief of leaves. A white glass filters light to the floor.

The stone sculpture at this site, entitled "Alice in Wonderland," was likely made by Emmanuel Viviano with WPA Federal Art Project funding. Based on this post from 2009 0n the MIR Appraisal Services blog, the sculpture may have been relocated: Last Sunday, I attempted an “Emmanuel Viviano/ WPA Field Trip” all about Chicago—I wanted to scout out the Viviano public art in our city and report back to you. Sadly, I couldn’t locate any of his works… from the Carroll Playground in Oak Park (which once featured a statue and fountain of Alice), to the Nancy Hill School in Aurora (once...

"Wyoming schools also benefited from the WPA Federal Art Project , which was responsible for a number of murals painted inside the buildings. Although the list of school murals is incomplete, it includes ... a set of murals for the Cheyenne High School library by Robert True ..." "The Cheyenne ... murals are believed to have been destroyed."