Federal Arts Project (FAP) Sites

"The Pueblo Rebellion of 1680" was painted by Loren Mozley in 1936 with Federal Art Project funds and restored in 1996.  

Edward Laning completed a mural entitled "The Role of the Immigrant in the Industrial Development of America" in 1938 for the Dining Hall in the Administration Building on Ellis Island with funding from the WPA's Federal Art Project. "The mural was 10 feet tall by 190 feet long...The sweep of the mural’s length echoed the grand scope of its narrative" that spanned American immigration history, geography, and industrial development.  Unfortunately, "Most of the mural was ruined in the 1950s when a storm damaged the roof of the facility. Portions of original were salvaged in 1970, when Judge Jacob Mishler of the Eastern Court of New York...

Julius Moessel worked under the Federal Art Project, and the WPA Federal Project Number One. He created an astonishing eighteen murals. The 7' x 9' panels were created for the Chicago Field Museum’s “Plants of the World Exhibit”, specifically for the collection titled "The Story of Food Plants." This project took two and a half years to complete (1938-1940), and while Moessel painted all eighteen by himself, he worked under the supervision of the Field Museum’s curator of botany. The murals were created as a way of visually showing people cultivation around the world- demonstrating farming and agriculture in various...

Floyd Bennett Field received a  New Deal mural, commissioned by the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), in 1934, and possibly in subsequent years by the Federal Art Project. The location and status of these works is unknown to Living New Deal.

Flushing High School was built in the early 20th century. In 1938, the school received four murals funded by the WPA's Federal Art Project.

"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 ... seven panels for the Fort Washakie dining room by Willie Spoonhunter." "The ... Fort Washakie murals are believed to have been destroyed."

This building has multiple murals, including two by Eugene Savage entitled "The Receiver of Taxes," "The Disbursement of Tax Dollars" and an unnamed mural (all pictured here). They were created 1937, likely with funding from the Federal Art Project . The building also contains several other murals painted by different artists (including the unnamed mural pictured here), all under the supervision of Savage and composed between 1937 and 1939. Covering 2,500 square feet, they "depict scenes from the European discovery of America through the settlement of western Indiana" (Indiana Business News). The murals are currently undergoing restoration, which can be seen on...

"The Four Freedoms" by Michael Lenson was created in 1942 with funding from the WPA Federal Art Project. The New York Times wrote the following in 2003 in a retrospective article of New Jersey-based artist Michael Lenson: " moved to Newark and applied at the W.P.A. office on Halsey Street ... Soon, Mr. Lenson was designing and executing murals for the state W.P.A. program. He went on to become assistant state supervisor in charge of the other muralists in the agency. By the time the federal W.P.A. closed in 1943, Mr. Lenson had created six murals and supervised the execution of 15 more...

Franklin Classical Middle School in Long Beach, CA, is home to a mural likely completed under the auspices of the WPA Federal Art Project (FAP). The artist and date of completion are unknown, although Suzanne Miller is a possibility. Located in the school's main entryway as well as along the northern and southern stairwells, the mural "depict a landscape scene of mountains, rivers, and trees using browns, greens, and blues. The mural is painted on canvas and attached to the walls in the main entryway. The canvas is cut to fit the walls on either side of the small doorway sidesunder...

Franklin Classical Middle School in Long Beach, CA, is home to three concrete Bas Relief panels likely completed under the auspices of the WPA Federal Art Project (FAP). The artist and date of completion are unknown. The first relief is located above the entrance to the girls locker room. It "depicts the words 'Health' and 'Beauty' flanked by three female profiles, on both sides of the phrase, looking towards each other and shaking hands. On the other side of the profiles there are four horizontal sections forming a zigzag pattern on the edges. The profiles and words are painted a flesh...

In 1939 the Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed an athletic field at Portland's Franklin High School as part of a larger commitment ($468,459) to the improvement of Portland public school properties.

From 1939 to 1942, Portland’s Franklin High School benefited from two different Works Progress Administration (WPA) initiatives. One of the projects allowed artists from the Federal Art Project, one of the five independent branches of the Works Progress Administration, to respond to a commission funded by Franklin High School students and alumni ($15,000). Stonecutter George Berry and his assistants sculpted a fifteen feet tall (with pedestal), forty-ton sandstone statue of the school’s namesake. In spring 1942, the “Statesman Scientist” was installed at the north entrance of the school overlooking the athletic field.  The pedestal includes several built-in benches as well...

Olive Rush painted this fresco, entitled "The Library Reaches the People," in 1934, with funding from the WPA Federal Art Project. Its current location was originally Santa Fe's public library, and is now part of the Palace of the Governors.

"One of the primary goals of the Federal Art Project was to bring different kinds of art to the American people. Sculptor Kathleen Wilson was funded by FAP to create 12 three-foot statues representing historic priests. Local teenagers were hired with National Youth Administration funds to build the shrine structures for the “Camino de los Padres.” With the support of local Chambers of Commerce, the statues were placed along Arizona roadways. This statue with its stone grotto outside of Nogales has attracted much devotion since construction in 1939. Most statues have subsequently disappeared and many of those that are left...

Under the auspices of the WPA Federal Art Project (FAP), artist Eugenia Everett sculpted a statue for Fries Avenue Elementary School in Los Angeles, CA. The sculpture is of "Wynken, Blinken, and Nod," characters in Eugene Field's Dutch lullaby. George Washington Preparatory High School (Los Angeles, CA) has a copy of the same statue. According to a 1937 article in the Los Angeles School Journal, "Eugenia Everett is a wistful young lady, working in her aunt's studio on Manhattan Place" (Wells, p. 25).

The statue "Father Garces" is State Historical Landmark No. 277. From the LA Times, 7 May 1939, "Indians will unveil, a right reverend monsignor will bless, the statue of Padre Garces at Bakersfield, 2 p.m. today. Made by John Palo-Kangas on the Federal Art Project, it is State Historical Landmark Reg. No. 277, and represents the first white man to enter the Kern region. A Garces Memorial Committee made possible the statue and will conduct today's elaborate program." The sculpture is carved from Indiana limestones on a Carnelian granite base. The figure of Garces itself is 16'4" and with the base, the...

This courthouse contains a series of oil murals depicting the region in the 19th century. The murals were painted by Ruth Monro Augur under the auspices of the WPAs Federal Art Program: "Ruth Munro Augur, nationally known muralist, was forced on WPA rolls during the Depression because her commissions fell off so badly. She worked for $57.50 a month while painting the murals. She officially began on Dec. 1, 1935, but a great deal of tedious research was necessary before the artist could begin to apply paint to the canvas. Every detail had to be correct and the artist was handicapped by...

The Gary School contains a WPA mural by Roberta Elvis depicting fairy tale characters. Medium: oil on canvas Size: 5' h x 21' w Restoration Info: Restored 2001

Lucienne Bloch's mural, "The Evolution of Music", encircles the upper wall of the old music classroom at the former George Washington High School.  As the NY Public Schools Public Art for Public Schools website states: "Among New Deal New York City public school murals, the most outstanding example by a female artist is Lucienne Bloch’s The Evolution of Music, painted in a former high school music room. Bloch was one of the few WPA/FAP artists who had prior training painting murals, and she was well suited to her assignment at George Washington High School.  She had already successfully completed one WPA/FAP fresco...

  Victor Arnautoff's fresco entitled "Life of Washington" consists of thirteen panels and totals 1600 square feet. It was produced with the assistance of FAP funds.  

This project was originally assigned to Beniamino Bufano, but was awarded to Johnson instead when the WPA fired Bufano. This 1942 frieze entitled "Athletics" covers the back wall of the football field and still stands today. Supposedly, “WPA officials objected to the political content in Bufano’s design and assigned Johnson to take over the project. According to Richard McKinzie, Bufano was fired when WPA officials learned that he had used the Marxist labor leader, Harry Bridges, as a model for the frieze.” The circumstances surrounding this conflict ended a long friendship between the two artists. -Found SF

This 5'6" x 27' fresco mural "Advancement of Learning Through the Printing Press" by Lucien Labaudt was completed in 1936 with funding from the WPA Federal Art Project.

This 4' x 10' fresco mural "Modern and Ancient Science" by Gordon Langdon depicts the physicist Robert A. Milliken. It is located near the entrance to the library at Washington High School.  

Ralph Stackpole's 5'6" x 27' fresco "Contemporary Education" in the Washington High School library was completed in 1936 with FAP funds.

Presumably under the auspices of the WPA Federal Art Project (FAP), artist Eugenia Everett created a bust made of Belgian black marble depicting a woman with her hair gathered at the back of her neck. It is now located in the library at George Washington Preparatory High School in Los Angeles, CA. According to a 1937 article in the Los Angeles School Journal, “Eugenia Everett is a wistful young lady, working in her aunt’s studio on Manhattan Place” (Wells, p. 25). Everett also created sculptures for Brockton Avenue School and Fries Avenue Elementary School in Los Angeles, CA.

Under the auspices of the WPA Federal Art Project (FAP), artist Eugenia Everett sculpted for Brockton Avenue Elementary School in Los Angeles, CA, a statue now located at George Washington Preparatory High School. The sculpture is of "Wynken, Blinken, and Nod," characters in Eugene Field's Dutch lullaby. Fries Avenue Elementary School (Los Angeles, CA), has a copy of the same statue. According to a 1937 article in the Los Angeles School Journal, "Eugenia Everett is a wistful young lady, working in her aunt's studio on Manhattan Place" (Wells, p. 25).

Helen Lundeberg, assisted by Donald Totten, painted a two-panel mural at George Washington Preparatory High School in Los Angeles, CA. The panels, titled "Valley Forge, 1777" and "Yorktown, 1781," are located in the auditorium's interior foyer. Completed in 1941, the mural was funded by the Federal Art Project (FAP). "Valley Forge, 1777" depicts George Washington against a snowy background as he assists a fallen soldier towards a fire. "Yorktown, 1781" depicts George Washington standing before a church with a pen in his right hand and a sword in his left. Both murals are made of plaster and petrochrome and feature the...

Artist Barse Miller painted a set of four frescoes at George Washington Preparatory High School in Los Angeles, CA. The frescoes—located over four entrances, including that to the auditorium—were funded by the Federal Arts Project (FAP). Barse Miller was a teacher at The ArtCenter School in Los Angeles. His other New Deal–funded works in the region include a mural, “People of Burbank” (1940), at the Downtown Station Post Office in Burbank, CA.

Caroline Speare Rohland completed this 5' x 13' mural, entitled "Spring," in 1941 with funds provided by the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project (WPA-FAP). "The mural was originally in the Sylvania GA post office. It was removed in 1980 and rolled up in a closet until 1995. Removed in 1980. Now on indefinite loan to the Georgia Southern University Museum. Restored 1995 by the artist Jared Fogel and Charles Martin of Statesboro GA." (newdealartregistry.org)    

Archibald Garner sculpted "Youth in Agriculture" of granite for Glendale Community College in Glendale, CA, with Federal Arts Project (FAP) funding. Los Angeles Public Library has listed the sculpture as missing. Garner's extant New Deal–funded works in the region include a sculpture, "Law" (1941), at the U.S. Courthouse in Los Angeles, CA; the Copernicus figure found in the Astronomers Monument (1934) at Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, CA; and, in Inglewood, CA, the water fountain at Edward Vincent Jr. Park as well as a mahogany bas relief, "Centinella Springs" (1937), at the post office.

Though there is some uncertainly about the artist and original location of this mural, it was painted with the help of FAP funds.  

Frederick Mulhaupt painted "DeChamplain Surveys Le Beauport" and "Landing of Dorchester Colonists--1623" in 1936 with funding from the WPA Federal Art Project. The murals were originally installed at the old Central Grammar School.  

Gloucester City Hall contains several paintings by Charles Allan Winter. "The Founding of Gloucester" was painted in 1934, with funding from an unknown federal agency. "Education" was painted in 1935 with funding from the WPA Federal Art Project. It was originally installed at the old Central Grammar School. In 1939, Charles Allan Winter also painted three WPA murals in the main lobby: "“City Council in Session” fills the space above the collector’s windows (approximately 7 feet high by 11 feet wide). “City Government” covers the opposite wall. Tucked in and around the arch-topped lunettes, the two-part mural, “Civic Virtues,” spreads across the two...

4' high sculpture of a "Young Girl" by Jack Moxom funded by the WPA Federal Art Project. Located west of the Sharon Art Studio along the path to Junior Drive. It is part of the Sara S. Cooper Memorial.

In addition to "Science," a large New Deal mural, ENMU's Golden library is the home of several smaller commissioned ("portable") examples of New Deal paintings, including: Gene Kloss: "Penitente Friday" and "Acoma" Stuart Walker: "Black and White Sawmill" and "Abstract" Cady Wells: "Mesas" (which may not be New Deal-sponsored) Brooks Willis: "Sawmill" According to Flynn, the ENMU’s Department of Music Building had housed these examples of New Deal oil paintings. They, too, were more recently housed at Golden Library. Three oil paintings done around 1934 by Nils Hogner grace the walls of the staff lounge. They are colorful Navajo Indian scenes. We understand that one has disappeared....

The abstract mural titled "Science," by Raymond Jonson, was funded by the WPA's Federal Art Project. It is in ENMU's Golden Library. Nearby, the university's administration building houses this mural's twin, titled "Art". Flynn: They were planned as a pair, with the aim of serving as spiritual stimuli for the students. Regarding these panels, Jonson wrote in 1937: "My desire is to have a fine quality in these works based on, as a starting point, "Art" and "Science." One panel will place the emphasis on Art—the other on Science (note: my aim is to develop a series of rhythms and forms that can function as...

Four 6' x 10' murals depicting "Earth," "Air," "Water" and "Fire" by Ralf Henricksen were completed in 1936 with funding from the WPA Federal Art Project. They were restored in 2003-2004.  

In addition to WPA improvements made around Governors Island, "a mural in the Administration Building, depicting scenes from six American wars, was painted by artists of the Federal Art Project." The Administration Building is better known today as Pershing Hall. The Governors Island Blog states: "Pershing Hall benefited from a FAP commission to Tom Loftin Johnson for murals to adorn its principal hallways. Johnson’s 90 foot mural in Pershing Hall depicts American military history. A close look at these detailed murals reveals many notable national characters, some with particular connections to Governors Island."

"In Silver City, the PWA built Sixth Street School, the old James Stadium at WNMU, and the now-gone Western High School and Hillcrest Hospital buildings. The WPA constructed miles of local sidewalks and also funded the historic murals in the Grant County Courthouse by Theodore Van Soelen." -Silver City Museum "The art deco-style Grant County Courthouse, at the top of Broadway...houses two WPA murals: Chino Mines and The Round Up, both painted by Theodore Van Soelen." -New Mexico Off the Road

Gustaf Dahlstrom's panel oil-on-plaster mural "Flora and Fauna," as well two carved wood bas relief sculptures: "Wild Animals" and "Farm Animals" (artist unknown) were each completed in 1938 with funds provided by the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project. The are all viewable in room 106 of the Green Bay Pavilion.