Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP) Sites

This oil on canvas mural "The Stage Coach" by John Law Walker depicts a Concord mail coach. It was funded by the Treasury Relief Art Project.

The Whittier post office formerly held a tempera mural, "Boy with Sheep," painted by Thomas Laman in 1938 with funding from the Section of Fine Arts and the Treasury Relief Art Project. It has since been painted over.

Two murals were commissioned by the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP) for the former post office in Raton, New Mexico—now the library. The works: "First Mail Crossing Raton Pass," and "Unloading the Mail at Raton," were completed by Joseph Flecks in 1936. "First Mail Crossing Raton Pass" is now located in the retail lobby of the present Raton post office. It is possible the mural was cut to fit its present space.

Two murals were commissioned by the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP) for the former post office in Raton, New Mexico—now the library. The works: "First Mail Crossing Raton Pass," and "Unloading the Mail at Raton," were completed by Joseph Flecks in 1936. "Unloading the Mail at Raton" has been separated from its companion work, and now resides toward the front of the Raton Museum, around the corner from the present post office.

The murals "Growth of the Road" and "Pioneers of Altoona" by Lorin Thompson were completed with the help of Treasury Relief Art Projecct funds in 1938.

The post office contains a series of murals depicting “The Battle of Cranford during the American Revolution.” The murals were funded by TRAP and painted by artist Gerald Foster in 1937.

The post office contains two TRAP murals by W. Lester Stevens painted in 1936. The murals are entitled “Early Rural Mail Delivery” and “Early Rural School.”

The historic post office building in Freeport, New York contains two New Deal Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP) murals painted by William Gropper entitled "Air Mail" and "Suburban Post in Winter."

These two murals by Peppino Mangravite were funded by TRAP in 1937. They depict, respectively, a scene of the settlement of Hempstead and the arrival of British dirigible R.34 with the first air mail in 1919.

The historic Honesdale post office houses an impressive set of New Deal murals. The works, respectively titled "Canal Boat," "Clearing the Wilderness," "Coal," "Gravity Railroad," and "Visit by Washington Irving," were installed by artist Walter Gardner in 1937, under the auspices of the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP). Each oil-on-canvas panel depicts a scene from local history. The murals occupy three walls of the customer lobby, including the space above and around the front entrance to the building. The Wayne Independent, Jan. 1937 (article copied/typewritten in display panel at P.O.): The walls of the lobby of the Honesdale Post Office have been decorated...

The historic post office building in Hudson Falls, New York contains several murals painted in 1937 by George A. Picken under the Treasury Relief Art Project. The murals cover all 4 lobby walls and are entitled "Scenes and Activities of Hudson."

The post office contains 5 oil on canvas panels by Vladimir Rousseff on the topic "Historical Treatment of Mail Transportation in the West." They were produced under both the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP). Two of the panels are pictured here: "Washing and Carrying Gold" and "Fighting Indians."

The post office contains a series of TRAP (Treasury Relief Art Project) murals depicting "Scenes of Postal Service, local industries and other activities typical of the community" painted by Frederick Knight in 1937.

The post office contains several murals depicting scenes of local history in the colonial period. They were painted by Jacob Getlar Smith with TRAP support in 1936.

The lobby of the post office in Port Chester, New York features a stunning array of four large New Deal murals and nine smaller lunettes. Designed by Domenico Mortellito with Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP) funding and installed in 1936, they depict a wide range of human activities, from ship building and fire fighting, to music and baking. (Construction of the Port Chester post office, itself, began prior to 1933, when FDR came into office; as such the building itself is not included on this site.)

The Redondo Beach post office contains three oil on canvas murals by Paul Sample that were originally created for the since-demolished post office building at Catalina and Garnet street. The artwork relocated with the post office to its current location in 1977. The murals were painted in 1937 with TRAP funding. The murals depict "Sheep Farming and Ocean Near Redondo," "Excursion Train and Picknickers in the 90s" and "Fishing Redondo Dock".

The post office contains two murals entitled "Saratoga in Racing Season" painted by Guy Pene du Bois in 1937 under the TRAP (Treasury Relief Art Project). This office is now the Finance Unit, Downtown.

The historic post office in Scottdale, Pennsylvania houses examples of New Deal artwork: “Local Life and Industries,” painted by Harry William Scheuch in 1937. The oil-on-canvas works were commissioned by the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP).

Schomer Lichtner painted five murals for the Sheboygan Post Office in 1939 under the auspices of the Treasury Relief Art Project.

"Agriculture and Industries of Ventura" Large murals depicting cattle, dairies, fields, and citrus groves and packing--all with many busy laborers.

The post office contains two large murals collectively titled "Farm Life." The murals, painted by George Harris in 1937, were funded by TRAP. A third mural entitled "The Trek of Father Crespi--1777" was painted by Katherine Works in 1938, but has since been destroyed.

This 1936 post office contains multiple examples of New Deal artwork, all funded by the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP). "The prominent American artist illustrator and author Ernest Peixotto was commissioned to paint five murals which are in themselves, a tour of historic Oyster Bay, depicting scenes from 1653 to 1936. The vaulted ceiling was painted by Peixotto assistant, Arthur Sturges and depicts beautiful women representing different countries sending mail to North America on ships and planes. Mercury, the winged messenger, sits atop the dome to receive the mail with speed. Leo Lentelli, a noted Italian sculptor, whose work can be seen...

The historic post office building in Cooperstown, New York houses an example of New Deal artwork: a bronze relief depicting James Fenimore Cooper, Natty Bumppo and Chief Chingachgook produced by Victor Salvatore under the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP) program.

The Roseville, California post office's New Deal-sponsored 12' by 3' wood relief, entitled "The Letter," depicting the reception of a letter is divided into three panels.

The post office contains five cast stone reliefs created under the TRAP program. The reliefs, created by Vincent Glinsky and his assistant Leo Schulemowitz in 1934, depict the "Evolution of Transportation."  

With Treasury Relief Arts Program funding, Isamu Noguchi produced this cast stone relief entitled "The Letter" for display at the Haddon Heights post office in 1939. Noguchi is best known for his bas-relief "News" on the exterior of 40 Rockefeller Center in New York City. Ironically, then-postmaster of Haddon Heights, Henry McKay, objected to the installation, but it has remained to delight generations of local residents.        

This 3' x 9' carving of four women on the exterior of the post office is titled "Indian Maidens." It was created by Zygmund Sazevich with funding from the Treasury Relief Art Project.

Four wooden grilles by Frederick H. Brunner adorn the historic New Deal-era post office building located at 28 Main Street in the Chicopee Falls community in Chicopee, Massachusetts. The carvings were commissioned by the federal Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP).

This ceramic panel is at the west entrance of the Rincon Annex.  We have no information on the artist and provenance of this piece.

The former Rincon Annex post office (now Rincon Center) has an extraordinary set of murals, 27 large panels along the upper wall of the lobby of the old post office.  They tell the "History of California" from the Spanish conquest of California to the founding of the United Nations in the city at the end of the Second World War. These murals are the work of Anton Refregier, an artist with a leftist bent and a strong streak of independence.  They are an astonishing accomplishment in terms of scale, historical vision and artistic style, which is quite unlike most mural art of...

Four oil on canvas murals depicting Santa Cruz's industry: "Cabbage Farming," "Limestone Quarries," "Artichoke," and "Fishing." "The vivid paintings show limestone quarry workers, men picking artichokes and fishermen at the waters edge. One painting, titled Cabbage Culture, shows three farm workers, one of them bent over as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders."

"In addition to the public-works projects, Santa Fe also had more than its share of New Deal-financed art and craft projects designed to train young men and women in traditional skills while producing works of art for public buildings. Perhaps the best known of the New Deal art in Santa Fe are the six murals landscapes on canvas affixed to the walls by William Penhallow Henderson in the U.S. District Court building on Federal Place. The old courthouse, built between 1853 and 1889, recently got three more New Deal artworks scenes of Navajo life painted by Warren Rollins for a...

Now known as the Gene Snyder U.S. Courthouse and Custom House, the historic United States Post Office, Court House and Custom House in Louisville, Kentucky houses New Deal artwork. "The building was among the first recipients of artwork commissioned by the Treasury Relief Art Project — a program ... that employed painters and sculptors to incorporate art within the interiors of federal buildings nationwide. In 1935, the PWA funded artist Frank Weathers Long, a Kentucky native, to paint ten murals depicting regional themes of commerce, agriculture, and sport."

The old Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House dates to 1902-1907 and today serves as the New York branch of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, as well as housing the New York branch of the National Archives and the records of Reginald Marsh. During the Great Depression, the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP) funded artist Reginald Marsh to decorate the main rotunda ceiling with a series of massive frescoes.  The frescoes, painted in 1936-37, depict eight New York Harbor scenes and eight portraits of great navigators. The ensemble is one of the most magnificent of New Deal mural installations in New York City.  

Once a U.S. Federal Courthouse & Post Office, the building at 101 S 1st St. in Cedar Rapids, Iowa now serves as the city hall. The courtroom is now the chambers for the city council, and is the location for four murals generated under the Treasury Relief Art Project between 1936-1937.

"The Henriques room was originally the Academy library, and is now used for special gatherings and award ceremonies. Aldis Browne, graduate of Yale School of Fine Arts, worked for the U.S. Treasury Program during the Great Depression and completed the various murals painted on the walls. The murals represent the Coast Guard's history. The room is also filled with museum artifacts."

Cleveland's historic University Center Station post office houses one of many examples of New Deal artwork commissioned for northeast Ohio post offices. Commissioned by the federal Treasury Relief Art Project, this multi-panel mural was created by John Csosz and completed in 1937.

A set of several panels painted by William D. White in 1937 entitled "Harvest, Spring and Summer." The murals were funded by TRAP for what was then the Dover DE post office and is now the Wesley United Church Education Center. From the September 9, 1936 edition of the Sunday Star: “The saga of the life and industries of Kent County is depicted in the mural being prepared for the Dover Post Office by William D. White, of Carcroft, near Wilmington. “Mr. White is one of the many artists throughout the nation contributing his talent towards the decoration of post office buildings,working for...