Arts Programs Sites

"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" —...

The grand lobby of Borough Hall contains a series of Depression Era bas-reliefs and 13 large murals painted by Frederick Charles Stahr in 1940 under the auspices of the WPA Arts Project. The murals illustrate important events in Staten Island history. With only slight exaggeration, a local source claims that "the murals are the largest and most accessible WPA collection in New York City" (Staten Island USA)  They are, in any case, hugely impressive. There are thirteen 6.5 x 13-foot oil-on-canvas murals.  The individual titles are: Giovanni da Verrazzano Discovers Staten Island, 1524 Henry Hudson Anchors off Staaten Eylandt in 1609 Cornelius Melyn Trades...

"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)

"Suburban Street" is a 1942 Section of Fine Arts mural entitled "Suburban Street" by Alan Tompkins. The size of the mural is 11'9" x 5'2" and the medium is oil on canvas. The work is installed in Indianapolis's historic Broad Ripple Station post office.

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.

The Bronx General Post Office houses a set of 13 magnificent mural panels—collectively titled "Resources of America"— by Ben Shahn and Bernarda Bryson Shahn. A Lehman College Guide to Public Art in the Bronx has this to say about the Shahn murals: "In the fall of 1938 Ben Shahn, assisted by his wife Bernarda Bryson Shahn, began work on the cartoons for a major cycle of thirteen egg tempera on plaster frescos for the Bronx General Post Office. The project was created under the US Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture, a new deal art program which produced public works in federal...

The Bronx General Post Office contains superb examples of New Deal art, added in 1938-39 under the Treasure Section of Fine Arts program.  Inside are 13 mural panels by Ben Shahn and his wife, Bernarda;  on the exterior wall, flanking the entrance, are  two limestone sculptures by Charles Rudy and Henry Kreis.  On the left, as one faces the building, is "Noah" by Rudy; on the right, "The Letter" by Kreis. A Guide to Public Art in the Bronx from Lehman College has this to add: " The awards, announced by the Treasury Department, were made unanimously by the judges, Paul Manship, Edward McCartan and Maurice Sterne, sculptors, and...

The Bronx General Post Office contains superb examples of New Deal art, added in 1938-39 under the Treasure Section of Fine Arts program.  Inside are 13 mural panels by Ben Shahn and his wife, Bernarda;  on the exterior wall, flanking the entrance, are  two limestone sculptures by Charles Rudy and Henry Kreis.  On the left, as one faces the building, is "Noah" by Rudy; on the right, "The Letter" by Kreis. A Guide to Public Art in the Bronx from Lehman College has this to add: " The awards, announced by the Treasury Department, were made unanimously by the judges, Paul Manship, Edward McCartan and Maurice Sterne, sculptors, and...

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...

"This bronze sculpture depicts William Earl Dodge (1805–1883), one of the founders of Phelps, Dodge, a leading mining company. Dodge helped organize the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) in the United States and served as the president of the National Temperance Society from 1865 to 1883. John Quincy Adams Ward (1830–1910) sculpted the piece, which was donated by a committee of Dodge’s friends and acquaintances and dedicated October 22, 1885. Dodge is represented leaning on a podium while delivering a speech. The piece originally stood in Herald Square on a pedestal designed by Richard Morris Hunt (who designed the pedestal for...

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.

The mural "Indians Moving" by Suzanne Scheuer was painted for the historic former Caldwell post office building, with funding from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. It was later relocated to the Burleson County Courthouse.

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)  

Gladys Caldwell Fisher completed these two Indiana limestone sculptures, entitled "Rocky Mountain Sheep" and "White Ram," in 1936 with funds provided by the Treasury Relief Art Project. They are viewable on both sides of the entrance to the Byron White US Courthouse, which was originally the U.S. Post Office Building.  

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...

The federal Treasury Department's Section of Fine Arts funded a terra-cotta relief by Wheeler Williams entitled "Indian Bowman" to be installed in the newly constructed Canal Street post office. The sculpture was installed in 1938.

In 1940, Helen Lundeberg created a mosaic mural, "Quests for Mankind," for Canoga Park High School in Canoga Park, CA. The mural was funded by the Work Projects Administration Art Program (WPAAP). The mosaic depicts three stages in the progress of humankind: a family of early cave dwellers, a Hellenistic teaching scene, and Renaissance intellectuals with Pisa's Campanile in the background. A second, smaller panel depicts three founding fathers signing the Declaration of Independence and three students looking at a globe. According to the school website, "the murals originally hung as five separate pieces on the outside north wall of the Assembly...

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".

In early 1934,  the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) sponsored ten local artists to decorate the Utah State Capitol, led by Lee Greene Richards. The others included Ranch Kimball, Henri Moser, Gordon Cope, Florence Ware, J.T. Harwood, Walter Midgley and Millard Mallin. Two large half-circle murals grace the ends of the huge central hall of the capitol building. The cupola of the rotunda has a circular mural, about six feet high, and there are four large murals at each corner atop the pillars.  They all depict romanticized scenes from Utah's past: trappers, native people, pioneers, covered wagons, the transcontinental railroad, and so forth. Millard...

These New Deal statues entitled "Communication" and "Land" were installed by Carl C. Mose in 1940 in what was then the Salina Post Office and Courthouse. The sculptures still decorate the original building which is now the Smoky Hill Museum.

A New Deal mural, "The Jicarilla Apache Trading Post," was created for the 1930s old post office building in Carlsbad, New Mexico. It is now housed at the Carlsbad Museum. Treasures on New Mexico Trails: A large mural-size painting, 42" x 50" by La Verne Nelson Black (1887-1938) under the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP) titled, "The Jicarilla Apache Trading Post," is a dramatic work of Jicarilla Apache Indians at the trading post some of whom are on horseback. The time of day is dusk with dark winter clouds in the background and with brighter colors on the individuals.

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.

In 1934, the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) funded a large three-panel mural by artist Arthur Ames, which was displayed in the Carnegie Library in Anaheim, California. The mural has been relocated to the Anaheim Central Public Library in Anaheim, CA. As of October 2023, the two smaller side panels are still there, but they are not viewable by the public due to the threat of vandalism. The central panel is currently viewable to the public for free at the Anaheim Heritage Center, located inside of the Muzeo Museum. The central mural is oil on canvas, 92 by 56...

This building was repurposed in the 1980s as the New Mexico Veterans Center. Medium: terra cotta

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."

Federal Arts Project (FAP) artist Charles Kassler painted a 50-foot fresco, "Stampeding Buffalo" or "Bison Hunt" (1934), on the east wall of the Children's Court at the Los Angeles Central Library. Damaged by rain runoff over the years, the fresco was painted over in 1963. Kassler's extant FAP works around Los Angeles include a fresco, “Pastoral California” (1934), at Fullerton Union High School, and eight lunette frescoes (1936) at the former Beverly Hills Post Office (the current Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts).

"The Columbus Monument at the south west (main) entrance to Central Park at 59th Street and Central Park West (and Broadway), created by Italian sculptor Gaetano Russo and dedicated in 1882. By the 1930s it was serverely stained by soot, its base was cracked by vibration, and natural veins in the sculpture itself were opened by vibration and weathering. It was cleaned and restored by the New Deal Monument Restoration Project under Karl Gruppe."   (kermitproject.org) As Carol Lowrey explains, “Gruppe was closely involved in the conservation of New York's public sculptures from 1934 to 1937, during which time, under the auspices...

"The Maine Monument at the southwest entrance to Central Park at 59th Street and Central Park West, created by Harold Van Buren Magonigle (architect) and Attilio Piggirilli (sculptor), dedicated in 1913. By the 1930s, fingers and toes of many of the statues around the base had been broken off by vandals, the bronze sword was missing, and the joinery and surface of the marble base were badly stained. In 1934 new fingers and toes and sword were created and affixed and the monument thoroughly cleaned the New Deal Monument Restoration Project under Karl Gruppe."   (kermitproject.org) As Carol Lowrey explains, “Gruppe was...

"Milford Zornes (1908-2008), a California watercolor artist, is perhaps the most recognized artist of the early California style of watercolor painting. During the early 1930s Zornes worked for the federally funded Public Works of Art Project, producing watercolors to be displayed in public buildings."   (https://chaffeyart.wikispaces.com) The four watercolors shown here were all created for Chaffey College in 1934. Each is about 15" x 20". They are located on the main floor of the campus library.

The mural "Cotton Scene" was painted for then-new Hartselle post office by Lee R. Warthen in 1941. The work was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. “Warthen, of Washington, D.C., produced the Hartselle panel as the result of his entry into the War Department Building Competition. Warthen did extensive research for the panel, wrote the local postmaster, and talked with U.S. House member John Sparkman, who was from Hartselle, about the local industry and activities used in the final panel.” (https://www.alabamamoments.alabama.gov/sec49det.html) In the late 1970s, the mural was moved to its current location at the Hartselle Chamber of Commerce office in...