The NYC Parks Department website explains that: “Architect Charles A. Platt (1861–1933) designed this elegant black granite ornamental fountain to commemorate social worker and reformer Josephine Shaw Lowell (1843–1905). Shaw, who is said to be the first woman to be… read more
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… read more
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… read more
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… read more
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…. read more
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′… read more
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)…. read more
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… read more
An exceptional mural, “History of Printing,” was painted by Edward Schoenberger for the Canal Street Branch Library in New Orleans. The library building was a pre-existing structure from the early 1900s, in a quirky Caribbean style of uncertain origins. The mural… read more
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.
"Helen Lundeberg's murals QUESTS OF MANKIND have been a prominent feature on our campus since 1940. She created them during the Great Depression while working for the W.P.A.'s Federal Art Project. The murals originally hung as five separate pieces on… read more
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…. read more
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.
The NYC Parks Department website explains: “This impressive monument to soldier, statesman and journalist Carl Schurz is the result of a collaboration between the distinguished sculptor Karl Bitter (1867–1915) and renowned architect Henry Bacon (1866–1924). Built in 1913, the monument… read more
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″… read more
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… read more
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… read more
Now: New Mexico Veterans’ Center “The New Mexico Veterans’ Center (formerly Carrie Tingley Hospital) was partially funded with WPA funds in 1937. The buildings were left vacant in 1981 when the Hospital moved to Albuquerque. In 1983 the Veterans’ Administration… read more
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:… read more
The Cayuga Medical Center is home to eight sculptures, completed by six Works Progress Administration (WPA) artists in the late 1930s. The sculptures are between two and three feet tall and depict animals. They were originally installed at the children’s playground… read more
One-story, brick, H-shaped building with tile roof. This building was originally constructed by the Works Progress Administration as the swimming pool and bathhouse for Nashville’s Centennial Park. The swimming pool and bathhouse were closed during the Civil Rights movement as… read more
“Wyoming schools also benefited from the WPA Federal Art Project [WPA/FAP], 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… read more
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… read more
The Central Park Zoo was built over the course of eight months in 1934 by workers employed by the Civil Works Administration and, after that program’s demise, by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration. It succeeded the old Central Park Menagerie,… read more
Works Progress Administration (WPA) artist Frederick George Richard Roth, who worked for the WPA as head sculptor at the Parks Department, and who also created several other sculptures in Central Park including the Dancing Goat, the Dancing Bear, and Mother… read more
In 1935-36, the Arsenal was renovated by the New York City Parks Department using Depression-era relief labor paid for by New Deal programs (WPA and FERA). Afterward, the lobby walls was covered floor to ceiling with murals by Allen Saalburg and his assistants. Saalburg… read more
“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,… read more
After the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was launched in April 1935 (renamed the Work Projects Administration in 1939), it quickly became the main source of relief funds and labor for the NYC Parks Department. Heckscher Playground in Central Park was… read more
“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… read more
Frederick Roths’s Mother Goose Statue at the entrance to Rumsey Playground in Central Park. The 1938 Parks Department press release announced the erection of the statue: “The Department of Parks announces that an interesting statue depicting famed characters of the… read more
This sculpture of a panther was created by Edward Kemeys in 1885. It was refurbished and remounted in 1937 by WPA workers and continues to be maintained by the Central Park Conservancy today.
In 1936, young people employed by the National Youth Administration provided the labor for construction of an amphitheater on the Reed College campus in southeast Portland. The private college supplied the materials and land with the understanding that the theater… read more
“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… read more
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… read more
The New York Times wrote the following in 2003 in a retrospective article of New Jersey-based artist Michael Lenson: “[Mr. Lenson] moved to Newark and applied at the W.P.A. office on Halsey Street … Soon, Mr. Lenson was designing and… read more
The courthouse contains a 1938 Section of Fine Arts mural by Stefan Hirsch entitled “Justice as Protector and Avenger.” During the 1930s, this mural sparked an intensely racialized controversy: “The central female figure is a reference to the Renaissance Virtue… read more
Medium: oil on canvas The massive 5 x 132 foot “History of Aviation” is located in the school library. Jean Goodwin Ames and Arthur Ames designed the mural; Serena Swanson, Dorr Bothwell, Elizabeth Mills, and Mary Stanfield painted it.
Rochester, New York’s Charlotte High School contains a series of murals commissioned by the federal Works Progress Administration. “The eight murals, each 19 feet tall, were painted in oil on canvas in 1942 by Carl Peters for the Works Progress… read more
