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  • John Muir Elementary School Murals - San Francisco CA
    Three 15' x 7.5' frescoes by David Park on the themes "Art," "Civilization," and "Nature." The frescoes surround the main entrance. The murals were done as part of the Public Works of Art Program (then funded by the CWA).
  • John Sevier State Office Building Mural - Nashville TN
    This mural "The Discovery of Tennessee," painted by Dean Cornwell, was completed with New Deal funds in 1941.
  • Jordan High School: Ulber Mural – Los Angeles CA
    Althea Ulber painted a mural, "Youth and Democracy," at Jordan High School in Los Angeles, CA. The 4 x 30 foot mural is located in the school library. Completed in 1937, it was funded by the Federal Art Project (FAP). The mural depicts fifteen figures of different ethnicities, with an older man at the center. A ribbon painted across the mural reads "Confucius, Good Relationship, Music, Industry, Language, Law, Literature, BROTHERHOOD, Dignity, Love for Nature, Courtesy, Fine Taste." Born in Los Angeles, Ulber studied with artists including Stanton Macdonald-Wright, the director of the FAP's Southern California division. From 1921 to 1941, Ulber...
  • Jose Aceves Mural - Borger TX
    A Treasury Department Section of Fine Arts-sponsored mural titled “Big City News” was by Jose Aceves and installed in the lobby of the old Borger, Texas post office in 1939. The mural, which measures 4' x 9',  is now housed in the nearby Hutchinson County Museum.  
  • Joseph L. Fisher Post Office Murals - Arlington VA
    The old Main Post Office in Arlington VA, opened in 1937,  contains seven New Deal murals by Auriel Bessemer in its lobby.  The mural series is titled, "Agricultural and Industrial Scenes – Sketches of Virginia."  They were commissioned by the Treasury Department Section of Fine Arts, painted in 1939 and installed in 1940.   Auriel Bessemer was a local artist and the panels show familiar scenes of Virginia life in the past.  The seven panels depict Indians on Analostan Island, Captain John Smith and the Indians, tobacco picking at the Lee mansion, Robert E. Lee receiving his Confederate commission in Richmond, a...
  • Julia Ideson Building (Public Library) Murals - Houston TX
    Oncell: "In 1934, as part of a local Public Works Art Project, three Houston area artists were commissioned to paint murals in the Houston Public Library (HPL) building.  The murals found on the first and second floors of the Julia Ideson Building now constitute the largest collection of depression-era murals found in the city of Houston. This triptych, or three piece set, found in our first floor hallway depict Spanish scenes and symbols painted by artist Angela McDonnell of Galveston.  In 1930, Miss McDonnell had obtained passage on a cargo ship leaving Houston and ended up in Barcelona, Spain. ...
  • Julia Richman Educational Complex: Knott Mural - New York NY
    In 1936, Ben Knott completed an oil on canvas mural entitled 'Decorative Map of the World' for the fourth floor corridor, East School, of what was then Julia Richman High School, with funding from the Federal Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project (WPA/FAP). The high school building that housed the mural has since been converted into the Julia Richman Education Complex. The building complex now serves as the site of six separate small schools. The Living New Deal needs further information to determine the current status of the mural.
  • Kansas State University: Hale Library Murals - Manhattan KS
    From the Kansas State University website: "David Hicks Overmyer painted the four Historic Farrell Library murals in 1934 as part of the federal government’s Public works of Art Project. Each of these murals is 11’ x 14’ and their subjects symbolize the four major academic pursuits of the institution at the time: science and industry, agriculture and animal husbandry, the arts, and home economics. Overmyer, an illustrator, artist, and muralist, was born in Topeka, Kansas in 1889 and died there in 1973. He has murals in several other Kansas sites including courthouses in Ft. Scott and Norton, Topeka High School,...
  • Kennedy Department of Justice Building: Ballator Mural - Washington DC
    The New Deal is responsible for a magnificent array of artworks that embellish the Department of Justice building. The Treasury Section of Fine Arts commissioned artists to create 68 murals between 1936 and 1941 for $68,000, or one percent of the building cost.  The building’s murals depict scenes of daily life from American history and allegories on the role of justice in American society. John Ballator created a tempera on canvas mural, "Contemporary Justice and Man," for the Justice Department in 1936-37. "The artist’s composition suggests an ascending scale of values, with an ideally planned community (Greenbelt, Maryland) at the top. While some...
  • Kennedy Department of Justice Building: Biddle Frescoes - Washington DC
    The New Deal is responsible for a magnificent array of artworks that embellish the Department of Justice building. The Treasury Section of Fine Arts commissioned artists to create 68 murals between 1936 and 1941 for $68,000, or one percent of the building cost.  The building’s murals depict scenes of daily life from American history and allegories on the role of justice in American society. George Biddle painted a five-panel fresco mural, "Society Freed through Justice," in 1936.  The second panel was restored c. 1973, after damage to the wall behind it. "This five-panel mural illustrates the importance of justice in the lives of...
  • Kennedy Department of Justice Building: Bisttram Mural - Washington DC
    The New Deal is responsible for a magnificent array of artworks that embellish the Department of Justice building. The Treasury Section of Fine Arts commissioned artists to create 68 murals between 1936 and 1941 for $68,000, or one percent of the building cost.  The building's murals depict scenes of daily life from American history and allegories on the role of justice in American society. Emil Bisttram painted an oil on canvas mural, "Contemporary Justice and Woman" (1939). "This intricate oil-on-canvas mural shows a figure of Justice cutting the chains of tradition, which is represented by an old crouching shrew that had bound women....
  • Kennedy Department of Justice Building: Bouché Mural - Washington DC
    The New Deal is responsible for a magnificent array of artworks that embellish the Department of Justice building. The Treasury Section of Fine Arts commissioned artists to create 68 murals between 1936 and 1941 for $68,000, or one percent of the building cost.  The building’s murals depict scenes of daily life from American history and allegories on the role of justice in American society. Louis Bouché painted a large oil on canvas mural, "Activities of the Department of Justice" in 1937.   This is the only artwork at the Department of Justice paid for by the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP) rather than...
  • Kennedy Department of Justice Building: Curry Murals - Washington DC
    The New Deal is responsible for a magnificent array of artworks that embellish the Department of Justice building. The Treasury Section of Fine Arts commissioned artists to create 68 murals between 1936 and 1941 for $68,000, or one percent of the building cost.  The building’s murals depict scenes of daily life from American history and allegories on the role of justice in American society. John Steuart Curry provided two oil on canvas lunettes, "Movement of the Population Westward" and "Law Versus Mob Rule, " in 1937.  Curry was key artist in the Regionalist movement of the time. "'Movement Westward' captures the hardships faced...
  • Kennedy Department of Justice Building: Kroll Murals - Washington DC
    The New Deal is responsible for a magnificent array of artworks that embellish the Department of Justice building. The Treasury Section of Fine Arts commissioned artists to create 68 murals between 1936 and 1941 for $68,000, or one percent of the building cost. Leon Kroll painted two very large lunettes, "Justice Triumphant" and "Justice Defeated", in 1936. "In Justice Triumphant, two figures symbolize justice: a woman, and a black-robed Judge who is portrayed by Justice Harlan Stone. Justice Defeated represents the tragedy and havoc caused by the absence of justice. The atmosphere is dark, with dead trees, a threatening sky, and a barren...
  • Kennedy Department of Justice Building: Poor Frescoes - Washington DC
    The New Deal is responsible for a magnificent array of artworks that embellish the Department of Justice building. The Treasury Section of Fine Arts commissioned artists to create 68 murals between 1936 and 1941 for $68,000, or one percent of the building cost.  The building’s murals depict scenes of daily life from American history and allegories on the role of justice in American society. Henry Varnum Poor painted a complex, 12-panel fresco mural, "Justice Department Bureaus and Divisions," in 1936. The first set of panels around the doorways of rooms 5111 and 5114 depict the ac­tivities of the Bureau of Prisons and the...
  • Kennedy Department of Justice Building: Shimin Mural - Washington DC
    The New Deal is responsible for a magnificent array of artworks that embellish the Department of Justice building. The Treasury Section of Fine Arts commissioned artists to create 68 murals between 1936 and 1941 for $68,000, or one percent of the building cost.  The building’s murals depict scenes of daily life from American history and allegories on the role of justice in American society. Symeon Shimin painted the mural "Contemporary Justice and the Child" in 1940.  It was restored at one point after moisture in the wall damaged the tempura-on-canvas painting.  "This intricate mural portrays two groups: on the left, the faces of...
  • Kennedy Department of Justice Building: Sterne Murals - Washington DC
    The New Deal is responsible for a magnificent array of artworks that embellish the Department of Justice building. The Treasury Section of Fine Arts commissioned artists to create 68 murals between 1935 and 1941 for $68,000, or one percent of the building cost. From 1935 t0 1941, Maurice Sterne painted a monumental series of 20 mural panels for the Library's two-story Reading Room, called "Man's Struggle for Justice".   At the two ends of the room are triptyches entitled, "Attributes of Justice" and "Continuity of the Law".  Along the sides are two rows of panels (7 on each side, it appears):   "Brute...
  • Kennedy Department of Justice: Robinson Murals - Washington DC
    The New Deal is responsible for a magnificent array of artworks that embellish the Department of Justice building. The Treasury Section of Fine Arts commissioned artists to create 68 murals between 1936 and 1941 for $68,000, or one percent of the building cost.  The building’s murals depict scenes of daily life from American history and allegories on the role of justice in American society. Boardman Robinson painted an enormous set of 18 tempera murals "Great Events and Figures of Law" in 1938, covering roughly 1000 square feet of canvas. The murals surround the stairway leading to The Great Hall on the 2d...
  • Key West Aquarium Murals - Key West FL
    In 1933-1935, Alfred Crimi was one of several artists to be employed to create murals for the Key West Aquarium. The murals were begun under the CWA and completed under FERA. The Crimi murals were later destroyed, but modern day reproductions were later installed. The status of the murals by other artists is not known to the Living New Deal.
  • Kings Mountain City Hall Mural - Kings Mountain NC
    This canvas mural "The Battle of Kings Mountain" by Verona Burkhard was painted in 1941 with Treasury Section funding for the town's post office. It was moved to the city hall in the 1980s.
  • Kingsessing Station Post Office (former) Murals - Philadelphia PA
    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania's old Kingsessing Station post office hosted a pair of New Deal murals: "Philadelphia Waterways with Ben Franklin Bridge" and "View of Downtown Philadelphia Skyline," that were installed in the post office lobby in 1939. The murals were painted by Moses and Raphael Soyer. Upon relocation of postal services in Kingsessing, the murals were removed from the old post office. Presently the murals hang along the back wall of the offices of USPS's Philadelphia Metro District—a facility near the city's primary mail processing plant that is not accessible to the public. The murals have been sliced vertically into multiple segments...
  • Kirtland Air Force Base Murals - Albuquerque NM
    "The Old Officer's Club on this base was originally the Sandia Girls School, a private school built by the Simms family. It had art and furniture created specifically for it but most has been lost. Six of the pieces created by Lloyd Moylan were conserved and still hang in the cocktail lounge of the East Officer's Club. They are a series of different Indian dances including Buffalo, Butterfly, Clown, Deer, Eagle and Matachinas. Originally there were at least seven paintings and maybe more, but the missing paintings may have disappeared during a fire. Other unusual craft items also missing are...
  • Kohn Elementary School Mural - Chicago IL
    These two mural panels of "Covered Wagon and Indians," each 8'  x 28', were completed by an unknown artist in 1939 with funding from the WPA Federal Art Project.
  • Kozminski Community Academy Classroom Scenes Mural - Chicago IL
    Three lunettes and three borders now located at the Kozminski Community Academy in Chicago were produced with the help of New Deal funds in 1942.
  • Laguna Honda Hospital: Wessels Murals - San Francisco CA
    The Laguna Honda Hospital contains five 8' x 6' murals by Glen Wessels, painted with funding from the PWAP in 1934. Four of the murals depict the elements "Earth," "Air," "Water" and "Fire," while a fifth is called "The Professions."
  • Lakeview Post Office Mural - Chicago IL
    During the Great Depression, the Works Progress Administration was the greatest and most ambitious agency to come out of FDR’s New Deal that employed mostly the unskilled. One sector of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was the Federal Art Project (FAP), and from that was born the Mural Division. This sought to not only employ artists that were struggling financially, but also to bring art to the public. There were many divisions of the FAP that had similar goals, but the Mural Division had a grand vision, and a lasting legacy. It showcased the talent of many artists in that...
  • Lampasas City Hall Mural - Lampasas TX
    This 1939 mural "Afternoon on a Texas Ranch" by Ethel Edwards was a winner of the Treasury Section's 48-State Post Office Mural Competition. It was originally located in the Lampasas post office constructed in 1938, but was moved to the city hall when the post office moved to a new location.
  • Lane Tech College Prep Auditorium Fire Curtain Mural - Chicago IL
    A 43' x 20' oil mural was painted on the steel fire curtain in the auditorium at Lane Tech High School by artist John Edwin Walley. It was installed in 1936 with funding from the WPA's Federal Art Project and restored in 1997. One commentary on the mural says this: "The imposing Native American figure called "the lean Indian," painted on the steel fire curtain of the school auditorium, was the first of many artworks to be commissioned for Lane Tech, then all male, during the New Deal years. The school had moved to a new building in 1934, and Lane's principal...
  • Lane Tech College Prep High School Auditorium Mural - Chicago IL
    Among the many Federal Art Project (FAP) funded artworks at Lane Tech High school is a four-panel fresco in the auditorium, "Teaching of the Arts," painted by Mitchell Siporin in 1938. Each panel is 15' x 3'6." From A Guide to Chicago's Murals (2001): "Four vertical panels mounted between the exterior doors of the Lane Tech auditorium describe the teaching of the humanities. They were painted when the school was all male. In each, Mitchell Siporin portrays the figure of a mentor or teacher standing behind that of a young student. For literature, a wise-looking older man with his arm outstretched gently...
  • Lane Tech College Prep High School Lunchroom Murals - Chicago IL
    Among the New Deal artworks at Lane Tech High School are several frescoes in the school lunchroom, each depicting a different period of "Epochs in the History of Man." These large (12' x 14') frescoes were painted by Edgar Britton in 1937 under the Federal Art Project (FAP), a branch of the Works Progress Administration (WPA).
  • Laramie Plains Civic Center (former East Side School) Murals - Laramie WY
    The WPA's Federal Art Project commissioned a set of murals for what was then the auditorium of Laramie's East Side School, now the Laramie Plains Civic Center. The murals are still housed in the building. "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 ... nine panels in the Laramie High School Auditorium by Florence Ware of Salt Lake City ..." "The Laramie panels remain in the auditorium of the school, which is now the Laramie Plains Civic...
  • Larchmont Public Library Murals - Larchmont NY
    Two murals in the Larchmont, New York Public Library were painted under the auspices of the WPA by Thomas H. Donnelly (1893-1971), an American scene painter, who lived in nearby Valhalla, New York and was known for his landscapes and winter scenes. The murals that have hung for the last 73 years in the Larchmont Public Library were commissioned by the Larchmont Women’s Club. “The Manor House” depicts Larchmont’s oldest building and one which gave this affluent village, Larchmont Manor, now a suburb of New York City, its name. The farmhouse, originally built by New York City attorney Peter Jay Munro...
  • Lawndale High School Murals - Lawndale CA
    Virgil Zenor painted four murals for Leuzinger High School in 1937. It is thought that they remained on display at the school until the 1970's, at which time they were removed and stored in a stage area. The photographs here, presented to the Living New Deal Project by Zenor's son, were taken in that storage area. Since then, the murals have been moved again. They were apparently thrown away at some point, but were saved by Gloria Ramos, then the librarian of Lawndale High School and are now on display there. They are in need of restoration. These murals were painted on...
  • Lee's Summit History Museum (Old Post Office) Mural - Lee's Summit MO
    The old post office building in Lee's Summit is the home of an original Section of Fine Arts mural "Pastoral" painted by Ted Gilien in 1940. The building, which was purchased and used as City Hall from the 1960's to 2006, is still owned by the City of Lee's Summit but is on a short-term lease to ReDiscover, a mental health organization, for offices. With the passage of a recent bond issue, the City will be turning the structure over to the Lee's Summit Historical Society for use as a museum. When the new City Hall was constructed, the mural...
  • Legler Library Mural - Chicago IL
    Richard Babcock's 11' x 18' painting "Father Marquette's Winter in Chicago" in the Legler Library was created in 1934 with the help of FAP funds.
  • Lester McCoy Pavilion Murals - Ala Moana Park, Honolulu HI
    "One of a pair of murals at the Lester McCoy Pavilion at Ala Mona Regional Park. A Works Progress Administration art project, done in the Art Deco style. It depicts various aspects of makahiki (harvest festival), imagined as taking place in the vicinity of what is now know as Ala Mona Park, makahiki pa'ani ho'oikaika (annual sports tournaments) are emphasized. This mural shows ali'i (chiefs) guided by the spirit of Lono (one of the four major Hawaiian gods, associated with peace and fertility) being presented with ho'okupu (tribute). In the distance kahuna (priests) guard the kapa (bark cloth) double banner...
  • Library Mural - Winchester MA
    The Winchester Public Library website describes an example of New Deal artwork: The Library's largest work of art is the mural in the main lobby, facing the front door and above the entrance to the Reference Room. Entitled “Purchase of Land from the Indians,” the mural depicts the sale of the land on which Winchester stands to the colonists by the Squaw Sachem. It was painted by Aiden Lassell Ripley (1896–1969) in 1934. Funding for the mural came from the United States Government's Civil Works Administration's Public Works of Art project, which employed artists to paint murals for public buildings during the...
  • Lincoln National Forest Service Building - Alamogordo NM
    "This building, which was built in 1938 as a post office in the New Deal project, PWA (Public Works Administration), is the home of a beautiful Peter Hurd mural which is on the front exterior of the building. In Alamogordo, under the Art-in-Architecture program titled, 'Sun and Rain,' Peter Hurd painted one of New Mexico's most beautiful frescos in 1942, around the entrance to the building. The central part of the fresco is flanked by two smaller frescos, 'Sorghum' and Yucca.'" The structure is now a county building in Alamogordo. -Treasures on New Mexico Trails
  • Lincoln National Forest Service Building Murals - Alamogordo NM
    In the portico of the Forest Service building are three frescos painted by Peter Hurd in 1940, with funding from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. "Yucca" and "Sorghum" measure 4' by 3', and are installed on either side of the larger "Sun and Rain." From Kathryn Flynn's Treasure On New Mexico Trails: In Alamogordo, under the Art-in-Architecture program titled, 'Sun and Rain,' Peter Hurd painted one of New Mexico's most beautiful frescos in 1942, around the entrance to the building. The central part of the fresco is flanked by two smaller frescos, 'Sorghum' and 'Yucca.' The Alamogordo News in 1941 described...
  • Lindbergh STEAM Academy Mural - Long Beach CA
    This massive 5' x 132' mural titled "History of Flight" is located in the library at Lindbergh STEAM Academy in Long Beach, CA. Jean Goodwin Ames and Arthur Ames designed the mural under the auspices of the Work Projects Administration Art Project (WPAAP); Serena Swanson, Dorr Bothwell, Elizabeth Mills, and Mary Stanfield painted it. Completed in 1940, the mural depicts aviation history "through an array of cultures, empires, countries and eras including the Turkish/Persians period, Greek Gods, the early modern period depicted through the Renaissance, and the modern era illustrated through the British colonies in the 1700s, the flight of a hot...
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