Treasury Section of Fine Arts (TSFA) Sites

Medium: Oil on canvas, size: 10' x 5'. "The Fertile Land Remembers", by Louise Emerson Ronnebeck (1901-1980) depicts a determined looking pioneer farming family in a Conestoga wagon pulled by oxen heading toward the viewer. In the background/sky are Indians riding horses chasing buffalo, executed in a translucent cloud-like manner. The Indians and the pioneer farming family were both historically dependent on the land and they are shown being displaced by the new, thriving and growing oil industry. The mural was originally installed in the Worland, Wyoming Post Office. It was later installed into the downtown Casper Wyoming Post Office, located...

The post office contains a 1941 mural created out of enameled porcelain panels. Entitled "Flora and Fauna of the Region," the mural was created by Edward Winter under the auspices of the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.

The mural "Arrival of the Stage," located in the lobby of the historic Catasauqua post office, was a New Deal work commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. The mural was completed in 1936 and is still visible today.

This mural "Incidents in the History of Catonsville" by Avery Johnson was completed with Section of Fine Arts funds in 1942.

The post office in Center, Texas houses an example of New Deal artwork: the mural "Logging Scene" by Edward Chavez. The work, which was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts, was created for the then-new post office in Center in 1941.

The post office contains a 1938 Section of Fine Arts mural by Kenneth Callahan entitled  "Industries of Lewis County." "Callahan, one of the founders of the Northwest School (a Pacific Northwest art movements) served as a curator at the Seattle Art Museum between 1933-1963." (https://depts.washington.edu)

“In all, artwork was commissioned for 19 post offices in the Cleveland area. In 2006, only eight are still operational. In those eight, the artwork from the Depression era was still present, though almost all needed cleaning and modest restoration. These include Clarence Carter’s mural for Ravenna; John Csosz’s mural for Cleveland, University Center (newly restored); Richard Zoellner’s mural Ore Docks and Steel Mills for Cleveland’s Pearlbrook post office; Lloyd R. Ney’s painting New London Facets for New London; W. Bimel Kehm’s plaster relief Citizens for Struthers; Glen Shaw’s two stirring murals Romance of Steel, Old and Romance of Steel,...

The post office contains a mural entitled "Harvest" by Joe Jones. It was created in 1939 with the support of the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. The mural “Harvest by Joe Jones was done at the height of the artists fame and is a classic subject for Mr. Jones.  It shows the harvest of wheat in a very labor intensive manner showing the cutting of the wheat, gathering it, and stacking it on a wagon.  Wheat dominates the field, though the farmers provide a great deal of motion.  It is all done under a dark cloudy sky. Joe Jones was largely self-taught...

The historic post office in Chatham, Virginia houses an example of New Deal artwork: an oil-on-canvas mural entitled "Harvest Season in Southern Virginia." The Treasury Section of Fine Arts commissioned the work, which was created by Carson Davenport, which was completed and installed in the post office lobby in 1938.

George Fisher painted the mural "The Way of Life" in 1938. The work was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts for the city's historic post office building. The mural was installed in the city's present post office in August 2009. "Painted by George Harold Fisher, the mural, titled 'Way of Life,' depicts a father, mother and child at rest in the foreground, with two apple trees in the background and a grinding stone and a spinning wheel on either side. It was installed in 1938 and commissioned by the secretary of painting and sculpture, Procurement Division of the Treasury...

The post office contains a Section of Fine Arts mural entitled "Loading the Packet" painted by Fay E. Davis in 1940.

The post office contains a 1941 Section of Fine Arts mural by William Abbott Cheever entitled “The Reverend John Eliot Preaching to the Indians.”

The historic New Deal post office in the Chicopee Falls community in Chicopee, Massachusetts contains a 1938 Section of Fine Arts mural by Ernst Halberstadt entitled "History of Chicopee Falls." Richly detailed vignettes of the history of Chicopee Falls with Indians and Pilgrims on the left with game and initial settlement, progressing to a covered bridge and buildings on the right. The center is dominated by an eagle clasping the banner of US Mail Chicopee Falls. The scale is small with many locations and events pictured. Ernst Halberstadt was born in Germany and immigrated to Boston where he studied at the Massachusetts...

The post contains a Section of Fine Arts mural entitled "Rail Roading" painted using egg tempera on gesso in 1942 by Arthur H. Lidov.

The mural "Threshing Barley" was painted by Charles W. Thwaites in 1940. It was a winner of the Treasury Section's 48-State Post Office Mural Competition.

The historic downtown Christiansburg post office houses a 1939 Section of Fine Arts mural, entitled "Great Road," painted John W. de Groot. The mural is a classic example of the “historic valor” series common to many Post Offices built at this time. In this case the mural is a portrayal of the “taming of the Appalachian area frontier by woodsmen, settlers and the army.”

The oil-on-canvas mural "The Mail Arrives in Clare—1871" was painted by Allan Thomas for the historic Clare post office. The work, which was sponsored by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts, was installed in 1937.

This Section of Fine Arts mural, entitled "Will Rogers," was painted by Randall Davey in 1939. The mural was originally installed in the old (now destroyed) post office in Claremore OK. It has since been restored and is now situated in the Claremore's current main post office.

New Deal mural entitled "Farm Scene" was painted by Paul Faulkner in 1943 with funds provided by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.

This 5' x 10' oil-on-canvas mural entitled “How Happy Was the Occasion” was painted by Mary M. Purser in 1939. Her husband, Stuart Purser, painted murals for the Carrolton, AL; Leland, MS; Ferriday & Gretna, LA post offices. "Mary May Purser was commissioned for $470 to create a mural for Clarksville, Arkansas on the basis of competent designs submitted in the Vicksburg, Post Office Competition. Purser visited Clarksville in search of appropriate subject matter and spoke with the local postmaster. The main source of information for the mural came from Ella Molloy Langford's book, History of Johnson County, Arkansas: The first...

This oil-on-campus mural “Texas Longhorn—A Vanishing Breed” was painted by Ila Turner McAfee in 1941 with funding from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.

The historic post office in Clinton, Connecticut houses an example of New Deal artwork: an oil-on-canvas Section of Fine Arts mural entitled “The Post Road in Connecticut,” painted in 1937 by William Meyerowitz.

The post office contains a Section of Fine Arts mural entitled "Clinton in Winter" painted by Aaron Bohrod in 1939.

The post office contains a 1942 Section of Fine Arts mural "Coon Hunt" painted by Richard Haines in 1942. Richard Haines was born in Iowa in 1906 and chose realistic, contemporary subjects that directly related to the life of the people in the communities where his murals were located.  In Coon Hunt, he portrayed a group of men hunting raccoons at night by lantern with dogs.  The intensity of the hunters and dogs is palpable, though some of the hunters and dogs are looking around, seemingly wondering if the coon has escaped.  The hunter to the far left has a wild-eyed...

Horace Day painted this tempera on canvas mural, entitled "Farm and Factory," in 1940 for the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. The mural was created for the historic former post office in Clinton, Tennessee; however, the work has since been relocated to the community's current post office.

A Section of Fine Arts mural entitled "Apple Pickers" was painted in 1941 by Thomas Donnelly. The mural resides in the retail lobby of the historic Clyde, New York post office building, which is still in use today. Unfortunately the lobby is locked after hours, and as such the mural is not always immediately accessible to the public.

The mural "Indian Family at Routine Tasks," which hangs in the lobby of the historic Coalgate, Oklahoma post office, was painted with federal Treasury Section of Fine Arts funds. It was painted by Acee Blue Eagle in 1942.

Joep Nicolas completed this oil on canvas mural, entitled "Coldwater Activities," in 1942 with funds provided by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. It is viewable in the lobby.

Section of Fine Arts mural entitled "Arrival of the Atlanta & West Point Railroad" painted in 1936.

Bruce Mitchell painted the oil-on-canvas mural "Columbia Bridge" in 1938 for the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. It is viewable in the lobby of the Columbia post office.

"Titled 'Lover's Leap,' the mural was painted in 1942 by Graziani. It portrays an early gathering that was held to raise funds for the city's swinging bridge. Graziani was influenced by American artists Thomas Hart Benton, Grant Wood and John Steuart Curry. He once said the three artists were the Holy Trinity of art while he was in school. Kathleen Almelien, art teacher at Columbus Community High School, said the work is a classic example of the type of mural painting popular in the United States in the 1930s and '40s. Many of the artists were funded through related initiatives of the...

The historic New Deal post office in Columbus, Mississippi houses an example of New Deal artwork: a Treasury Section of Fine Arts mural entitled "Out of Soil," which was completed in 1940.

Oil on canvas entitled "One Hundredth Anniversary" painted by Arnold Blanch in 1940.

The post office contains a 1939 Section of Fine Arts mural by Edmond J. Fitzgerald entitled Hudson's Bay - The Pathfinders. "Born in Seattle, Fitzgerald studied at the California School of Fine Arts and with Mark Tobey. According to the National Register Nomination submitted to the National Park Service for the Colville Post Office, the mural "symbolizes the role of Hudson's Bay company trappers and traders in the development of the Pacific Northwest."  Included is a trapper paddling a birch bark canoe, a log fort and three Native American men before a tepee on the near side."

Section of Fine Arts mural entitled "Early Mail Service and the Construction of Railroads" painted in 1938 by Philip Guston. It has been restored and moved from the original post office to the new one. "Philip Guston’s mural study shows the history of mail service on the frontier, from the days when sacks of mail arrived on horseback to the coming of railroads and telegraph lines that displaced much of the mail traffic…. After Guston submitted his study, government officials noted that he had lavished more attention on the workers than the rest of the image and specified that 'The strength...

This mural painted by Charles Anton Kaeselau, titled "Battle at the Bridge," depicts one of the most famous battles of the revolutionary war. This mural is hung proudly at the Concord Post Office, another New Deal Project that was funded by the Treasury Department and completed in 1938. The site depicted in this mural, The Old North Bridge, still stands today, located just a mile north of the U.S. Post Office building it resides in. The mural, which is an oil on canvas painting, was funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts and was completed in 1941. Fought on April...

This oil-on-canvas mural, "The Ploughman," was painted by Elizabeth Terrell in 1940 with funds provided by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. It was one of the 48-state post office mural competition winners. At some point, it was moved to the new post office.

The historic Cooper, Texas post office contains a Treasury Section of Fine Arts-commissioned mural entitled "Before the Fencing of Delta County." The oil-on-canvas work was completed by Lloyd Goff in 1939.

The post office contains a 1938 Section of Fine Arts mural by Ila Turner McAfee entitled “The Scene Changes.”

Section of Fine Arts mural entitled "Northern Georgia" painted in 1939 by Charles Trumbo Henry. It has been moved from its original post office location to a new post office.