Arts Programs Sites

"Justice Tempered with Mercy (Uphold the Right, Prevent the Wrong)" by Emil Bisttram was originally installed in the courthouse at Roswell, NM. It was painted with Treasury Relief Art Project funds in 1936 and moved to its present location in 1983. "Cooperation" and "Strife" are two smaller (3' x 3') murals that flank "Justice Tempered With Mercy" to form a triptych.  

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

The United States Courthouse in Columbia, TN, formerly the post office, is home to Sidney Waugh's 1941 limestone sculpture, entitled "American Eagle," and Henry Billings's 1942 oil on canvas mural, entitled "Maury County Landscape." Both were completed with funds provided by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.

The oil-on-canvas mural entitled "Trailing Cattle" was painted by Leo J. Beaulaurier in 1942. The mural was commissioned as part of a 1940 expansion of the 1914 building. NRHP: ""The post office also contains a mural at the east end of the original lobby (presently separated from lobby by glass partition). The mural, entitled "Trailing Cattle", was completed in 1942 by Leo Beaulaurier for a sum of $800. As suggested by the title, the mural depicts a drover and cattle herd stretching across the Montana landscape. Leo Beaulaurier was in Great Falls, Montana in 1911 and studied at the Los Angeles Art...

Provo's J. Will Robinson Federal Building houses a New Deal mural, "Early and Modern Provo," by Everett C. Thorpe, completed in 1942.  The work was commissioned by the federal Treasury Section of Fine Arts for what was then the main Provo post office.

This walnut relief entitled "The Building of Grand Crossing" by Laci de Gerenday with Treasury Section funding in 1940. It originally hung in the 1936 post office and federal courthouse across the street.

The Newport News Federal Building contains three unglazed terra cotta sculptures by Mary B. Fowler, completed with Treasury Section of Fine Arts funds in 1943. The sculptures depict local history: "Captain Newport Brings News and Aid to the Starving Colonists," "Present Day Industries," and "Early Industries."

The southern face of the federal building in Peoria, Illinois, features four limestone sculptures: "Postal Service," "Agriculture," Industry," and "Native Indian." Commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts, Freeman Schoolcraft completed the sculptures in 1939.

A beautiful, 16 panel mural titled “San Antonio’s Importance in History” adorns the walls of the Hipolito F. Garcia Federal Building (formerly the main U.S. Post Office) in downtown San Antonio Texas. The mural was painted by Howard Cook between the years of 1937 and 1939 using the fresco technique (fresco is the process of painting directly on fresh, wet plaster). Cost of the mural was $12,000. Each panel represents a different period in San Antonio’s rich history from the arrival of the conquistadors and Franciscan missionaries to the great cattle drives and cotton businesses of the early 1900’s. Mr....

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...

The 5-foot-high fresco entitled "Country Fair, Trading, Courthouse Square" wraps around four sides of the room and was painted with Treasury Section of Fine Arts funds.

Section of Fine Arts mural "Tennessee Valley Authority" painted for the Huntsville post office and courthouse by Xavier Gonzalez, 1937. "The Huntsville mural was the largest and most expensive panel commissioned in Alabama and the only one placed in a federal courthouse rather than a post office. Gonzalez received the invitation for the panel based on designs he had submitted for a competition in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1936. He originally proposed a rather odd allegorical panel that the Washington office criticized for both its style and its lack of meaning for the people in Huntsville. Instead of making allegorical allusions it...

In 1938, Thomas Laman painted five egg tempera on canvas murals for the Eureka post office and courthouse under the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP). The murals depict mining, farming, railroad building, and fauna of northern California.    The 0ld Eureka post office and courthouse was privatized (sold off) in 2002 and the murals were in danger of being lost to the public. But public pressure led the   General Services Administration (GSA) to reclaim and restore the murals, which were later transferred to the new federal courthouse in nearby McKinleyville, completed in 2015.

This massive work is a large triptych on the second floor of the former Terre Haute Federal Building that now houses Indiana State University College of Business. The mural portrays the scene of the signing of the Magna Carta in 1214, and depicts the description “Through this Document Government Exists According to Law not Power”. It was funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts and painted by Frederick Webb Ross in 1935. Little is known about Frederick Webb Ross who was born in 1885 possibly dying in 1963. He studied with William Forsyth in Indianapolis and at the Student’s Art...

The exterior of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) building is enhanced by several works of art commissioned by the Treasury Department's Section of Fine Arts in 1938. Above the entrances are rectangular bas-relief panels that represent foreign trade, agriculture, shipping, and industry: "Construction" by Chaim Gross (1938);  "Shipping" by Robert Laurent (1938); "Agriculture" by Concetta Scaravaglione (1938); "Foreign Trade" by Carl L. Schmitz (1938). There are also two bas-relief medallions with eagles by Sidney Waugh located on the northwest corner elevation of the building (not shown here).    

The exterior of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) building is enhanced by several works of art commissioned by the Treasury Department's Section of Fine Arts in 1938. The building is fronted on the east side by two monumental sculptures, entitled "Man Controlling Trade", by Michael Lantz (1942).  These allegorical sculptures, in Art Deco Style, depict a muscular man holding a rearing stallion, symbolizing the force of trade and the government’s role in regulating it.   

The exterior of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) building is enhanced by several works of art commissioned by the Treasury Department's Section of Fine Arts in 1938. The large, cast aluminum grilles on the Constitution Avenue entrance have six images designed by William McVey portraying commercial transportation methods: Columbus's 15th-century ships, an 18th-century merchant ship, a 19th-century clipper ship, a paddlewheel steamship, an early 20th-century ocean liner, and a seaplane.

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.

The terra cotta bas relief sculpture mounted above the front entrance to the Forest Hills Station post office on Queens Boulevard is titled, "The Spirit of Communication".  It was created by Sten Jacobson under the federal Treasury Department Section of Fine Arts program and installed in 1938.

The historic U.S. Forest Service Building (now United States Department of Agriculture Building) in Elkins, West Virginia houses examples of New Deal artwork: "Forest Service" and "Mining Village," two tempera murals by Stevan Dohanos. Completed in 1939, the works were commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.

The Treasury Section of Fine Arts funded two oil-on-canvas murals for this building: "Pulpwood Logging," painted by Philip Guston in 1941; and "Wildlife in White Mountains," painted by Musa McKim in 1941.

"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...

"In 1935 the Section on Painting and Sculpture of the Treasury Department of the Federal Government announced two competitions – one for a mural painting and one for a statue to be located in two courtrooms of the newly constructed United States Post Office and Courthouse in Newark, New Jersey, which opened in April of 1936. There was a sculpture competition to select a 7-foot high bronze figure of “Justice”, with the winner receiving a sum of $6,500.00 to complete and install the sculpture. The Newark Museum coordinated the competition for a sculpture to grace Courtroom #2. The sculpture selected...

In 1934, Leo Katz painted a three-panel mural in the lobby of Frank Wiggins Trade School (today's Los Angeles Trade-Technical College) in Los Angeles, CA. Katz was assisted by artists Tyrone Comfort and Ben Messick. The side panels were funded by the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP); the central panel was completed at Katz' own expense following the termination of the PWAP in May 1934. The April 1937 issue of Los Angeles School Journal noted that an "unsuccessful attempt" was made by a first artist before Katz took over. Having "just returned from Mexico filled with enthusiasm from his study...

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...

Chapel Hill's historic Franklin Street Station Post Office houses an example of New Deal artwork: an oil-on-canvas mural entitled "Laying the Cornerstone of Old East." Painted by Dean Cornwell, the work was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.

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).

Charles Kassler painted Pastoral California at Fullerton Union High School in 1934. He received funding from the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP). Located in the Louis Plummer Auditorium (built in 1930), the mural is 75′ x 15′. It was the first of three public artworks funded by the New Deal in Fullerton, California. Pastoral California is one of the largest frescoes created during the New Deal. Kassler first drafted the mural design on paper and then transferred this draft, one 36 inch square, at a time onto the wall to be traced. The mural was then painted in true fresco...

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