Treasury Section of Fine Arts (TSFA) Sites

Section of Fine Arts "mural entitled "Loading Pulpwood" painted by George Snow Hill in 1941. When a new post office was built, it was moved to the Santa Rosa Historical Society Museum. A fire there in the last few years, resulted in the mural being moved back to it's original location in the old post office." (flickr)

Frank W. Long painted the oil-on-canvas mural "The Rural Free Delivery" in 1939 for the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. The work is housed in what was originally constructed as the Morehead post office, is now a municipal building. The mural is viewable in the lobby. From contributor Charles Swaney: "Interestingly, even though Frank Long painted as many murals or more than any other New Deal muralist, his initial sketch was rejected by Ed Rowen, the head of the section.  Rowen objected to the obesity and unattractive woman in the center of the mural and the contrast with the very attractive...

"Milking Time," by Robert Cleaver Purdy, is an oil-on-canvas mural completed and installed in 1939 in what was then the New Albany, Mississippi post office. It remains in the building, which is currently used as the Union County Development Association building.

Section of Fine Arts mural entitled "Local Agriculture--A.A.A 1939" painted by Aldis Browne in 1939. It still hangs in the old post office, now used by the Board of Education. "Browne's Oneonta panel depicts a series of local scenes, all of them suggestions from the people of Oneonta. Also noteworthy about the Oneonta mural was the working method used by Browne. He came to Oneonta from Connecticut and painted the work directly on the wall to the delight of the local citizens, who apparently came by daily to inspect his progress. Browne reported to the Section office that he was "nuts"...

Section of Fine Arts mural entitled "Early Industry of Dale County" painted in 1938 by Kelly J. Fitzpatrick. Still hangs in the old post office building, now used as the County Board of Education. "The Ozark panel was the first of two murals painted by Wetumpka artist John Kelly Fitzpatrick, with Phenix City the second. Fitzpatrick was awarded the commission on the basis of work he had done under TRAP, an earlier Treasury program. He actually proposed several different themes, including a scene from local history depicting a famous battle between Samuel Dale and local native Americans, a decorative and allegorical...

With support from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts, Charles Rosen painted "Seminole Indians" and "Landscape," a set of three (yes, three) murals for the now-former Palm Beach post office in 1938. Unfortunately the murals are not (as of 2022) publicly accessible. According to the Palm Beach Post "you can peek through the glass doors and see the lobby." Per the Palm Beach Post: "In the late 1930s, the post office commissioned Rosen, a co-founder of the Woodstock School of Painting, to create three murals: an enormous map of the Hudson Valley for the Beacon, N.Y., branch; a contemporary view of...

The historic former post office building in Peabody, Massachusetts houses an example of New Deal artwork: "Old Bull Pen," which can be seen in the lobby. The work was commissioned by the Treasury Department's Section of Fine Arts, and completed by Waldo Peirce in 1940.

Glenn M. Shaw painted the oil-on-canvas mural "Building of Ft. Meigs 1813" in 1942. The work was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.

Section of Fine Arts mural entitled "Cotton," painted for the Phenix City post office by Kelly Fitzpatrick in 1939. The mural still hangs in the old post office. "The Phenix City panel was the second of two murals by Fitzpatrick, a Wetumpka artist, with Ozark the first. Its theme is the southern cotton crop. Before it was installed in the Phenix City post office it was exhibited at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts and described in the local newspaper: 'The subject of the mural is a cotton growth cycle showing the various steps from the planting of the seed to...

The oil-on-canvas mural "Sugarloaf Mountain" was painted for Rockville, Maryland's old post office, which is now a police station. From the Peerless Rockville blog: "The interior of Rockville’s Post Office is beautiful as well as functional.  Fifteen foot ceilings look down on terrazzo floors and walls, the original bulletin boards and postal boxes, bronze grilles, and a handsome mural.  Most striking is the mural of Sugarloaf Mountain by Judson Smith, which was sponsored by the Treasury Department’s Fine Arts Section with funds based on one percent of the total construction cost."   (https://www.peerlessrockville.org/)

New York artist Allan Gould completed this oil on canvas mural, "Gathering Tobacco," measuring 5'8" by 13'7", in 1938, on a $650 contract from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. From historian Anita Price Davis' 2008 book New Deal Art in North Carolina: The Murals, Sculptures, Reliefs, Paintings, Oils and Frescoes and Their Creators: "Artist Allan D. Gould drew on Roxboro's agricultural prowess for the mural he prepared for the Roxboro Post Office. His mural Gathering Tobacco shows workers stripping, tying, and grading tobacco outside a barn where tobacco is dried" (p. 146). The mural still hangs in the lobby...

The Section of Fine Arts-funded oil-on-canvas mural "Lumbering in Arkansas" was painted for the Siloam Springs post office by Bertrand R. Adams in 1940. "Bertrand Adams was commissioned for $600 to create a mural for Siloam Springs, Arkansas as a result of competent work submitted in the Dubuque, Iowa, Section of Fine Arts competition. He had a significant amount of trouble determining his subject matter and the Section critiqued his style and subject more than any other artist that created a mural for Arkansas. Adams, discouraged by these dilemmas, decided to resign from the commission, but was convinced by Rowan to...

The historic former post office building in Summerville, South Carolina houses an example of New Deal artwork: "Train Time – Summerville," a 1939 oil-on-canvas mural by Bernadine Custer. The work was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.

The historic post office in Tahlequah, Oklahoma houses New Deal artwork. The oil-on-canvas mural, entitled "Choctaw Ball-Play 1840," was completed by Manuel A. Bromberg and installed in the post office lobby in 1939. The building has since been re-purposed. The mural has been reinstalled in the new post office located at 1101 S Muskogee Ave., Tahlequah, OK 74464.

Section of Fine Arts mural entitled "Chief Tuscumbia Greets the Dickson Family" painted in 1939 by Jack McMillan. The mural still hangs in the former post office, now Tuscumbia City Hall and Municipal Court. "McMillan, a New York artist, chose the theme of his mural after visiting Tuscumbia shortly after receiving the commission. The Section had proposed that he consider using Helen Keller, but the residents of Tuscumbia suggested the arrival of Michael Dickson and his family. McMillan actually produced sketches using both themes and the Section office chose the Dickson panel as "unusually handsome in its simplicity and plastic qualities."...

The egg tempera mural "Resources of the Soil" was painted by Ben Cunningham in 1938. The mural depicts Mendocino County landscapes and people, including men working in a lumber mill, a man tending a vineyard, horse riders and harvest time in an orchard. When the 75-year old New Deal Ukiah post office building was closed in 2012, the mural was removed and sent to Chicago for restoration. It was returned to Ukiah in November 2016, where it is temporarily on display in the lobby of the city's Civic Center. "The mural eventually will be hung in the new Mendocino County Courthouse...

The oil-on-canvas mural "Fruit Season, Vacaville" was painted by Emrich Nicholson in 1939 for what was then the Vacaville post office. The building has since been converted into a restaurant, but the New Deal mural still decorates the walls.

New Deal mural entitled "End of the Line" painted in 1939 by Kady Faulkner for the Valentine post office. The PO building is now used as Cherry County Office Building.

The former Post Office in Venice, now privatized, contains a surreal, 10' x 20' mural, entitled "The Story of Venice," was painted by Edward Biberman under the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.   The mural was done with oil-wax emulsion on canvas.  It depicts a collage of city scenes from the early 20th century, including oil rigs and the old Venice pier.

G. Glenn Newell painted this mural, "Daydreams" in 1941 for the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. It hung in the Wallace, North Carolina, post office, which is now privately owned.

The historic former post office building in Walterboro, South Carolina houses an example of New Deal artwork: "Past and Present Agriculture and Industry of Colleton County," a 1938 oil-on-canvas mural by Sheffield Kagy. The work was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.

The old post office (now Wenatchee Valley Museum) contains a 1940 Section of Fine Arts mural by Peggy Strong, The Saga of Wenatchee. "Peggy Strong, an artist from Tacoma, won a statewide competition to paint the mural. Strong had been injured in a car accident in 1934 and, as a result, she painted the mural from a wheelchair, raising and lowering a platform." (depts.washington.edu)

The historic post office building in downtown White River Junction, Vermont possesses a New Deal mural in its lobby: "Vermont Industries" painted by S. Douglass Crockwell. The building is now privately owned. According to one visitor: "You can view the mural either through a glass door or from the stairway heading to the 2nd floor."

The mural "Floating Horses Down the Cumberland River" was commissioned by the federal Treasury Section of Fine Arts. It was installed in Williamsburg's historic post office building, which is now owned by Whitley County and used for storage by the county clerk's office. To access the mural, check in at the county clerk's office located in the courthouse across the street.

This mural, entitled "Logging in the Louisiana Swamps," was painted in 1939 by Datus Ensign Myers. Commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts, the mural is still in the original post office building—now a local history museum.

The historic former post office building in Woodruff, South Carolina houses an example of New Deal artwork: "Cotton Harvest," a 1941 mural by Abraham Lishinsky. The work was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.

The historic former Guymon post office had housed a New Deal mural entitled "Harvest." The work was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts and was completed by artist Jay Risling in 1939. However, the work was heavily damaged and is no longer on-site.

The historic former post office building in Mullins, South Carolina housed an example of New Deal artwork: "Tobacco Industry," a work by Lee Gatch that was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. The current whereabouts of the 1940 work are unknown.

The historic former post office building in Willoughby, Ohio housed an example of New Deal artwork: "White Man’s First Sight of Lake Erie" by Sterling B. Smeltzer. The work was commissioned by the federal Treasury Section of Fine Arts and completed in 1938. Unfortunately, the whereabouts of the mural are presently unknown.

In 1936, Charles Kassler painted a series of eight lunette murals for the former Beverly Hills Post Office (today's Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts). Located at either end of the Grand Hall's interior, the lunettes "Post Rider" and "Air Mail" were funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts (TSFA) and depict the past and future of the mail service. The remaining six lunettes, collectively titled "Construction–PWA", were funded by the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP).

The oil painting, "Buffalo Hunting," was one of two murals created in 1940 for the then-new former post office building in Livingston, Texas. It depicts an Indian brave on a brown and white pony riding next to a buffalo with his bow ready to shoot. Another buffalo is behind the pony. They are riding across a desert with a hawk flying and a roadrunner in front of the buffalo. According to the plaque below the painting, the artist, Theodore Van Soelen, was funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. (The work is sometimes mis-attributed to the WPA.) The Postal Service...

Two murals, "Haying" and "Sugaring Off," by Philip von Saltza were completed in 1939 with Treasury Section of Fine Arts funds. The post office moved to a new facility in early 2008. The murals remain in the old lobby.

Two New Deal murals by Edgar Britton adorn the walls of the Waterloo Public Library (the former post office and federal building). The murals entitled "Exposition" (located on the wall over the Youth Office) and "Holiday" (located in the Fiction Department) were painted in 1940.

New Deal murals entitled "Chemistry and Industry" and "Chemistry and Agriculture" painted in 1938 by Herman Zimmerman. He painted 2 murals for the Wilmington Post Office. They still hang in the building but it now houses the Wilmington Trust bank.

The historic former post office building in Blawnox, Pennsylvania houses an example of New Deal artwork: a wood relief titled "The Steel Worker and Family," created by Mildred Jerome in 1941. The work was commissioned by the federal Treasury Section of Fine Arts.

"New deal relief entitled "Town of Derry" created and installed by Vladimir Yoffe in 1938. It remained in the old post office until 2002 when the building was demolished. It has since been restored and since 2004 has hung in the Arts Center on the campus of the Pinkerton Academy in Derry."

The historic New Deal Miamisburg post office building houses an example of New Deal artwork: "Indian and Trader," a 1942 wood relief by Leo Schulemowitz. The work was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.

The former post office building in New Milford, Connecticut (which now the municipal Parks and Recreation department) still houses original New Deal artwork. This wooden relief, titled "The Post," was created under the Treasury Section of Fine Arts in 1938 by Mildred Jerome.

The Monticello Economic Development Commission building—formerly the post office—features (New Deal) Section of Fine Arts-funded terra-cotta reliefs entitled "Tomato Culture." They were created by Berta Margoulies in 1941. "Berta Margoulies was commissioned for $750 to create a mural for Monticello, Arkansas as a result of competent designs submitted in a Section of Fine Arts Competition. Margoulies method of sculpting differed from the more usual techniques. Generally, an original model was copied in another material such as stone or bronze. These reliefs, however, were modeled directly in terra cotta clay and they were then fired in a kiln. This direct method, while...

The historic former post office building in Spearfish, South Dakota houses examples of New Deal artwork: wooden reliefs entitled "Fish Story," installed by Marion Overby in 1943. Historic marker: Programs to employ artists were part of the national recovery effort during the depression. Marion Overby of Los Angeles was commissioned to do a sculpture for the interior of the building. After consulting the mayor for ideas, she titled her work "Fish Story." The sculpture still hangs on the wall of the lobby.