Murals Sites

This 6' x 30' mural titled "The Life of Carl Von Linne" was painted by Ethel Spears in 1939 with the help of the WPA's Federal Art Project.

Helen Seegert completed this 7' x 12' painted cement mural, entitled "Building the Mission," in 1936 with funds provided by the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project. It id viewable in the foyer of the Lompoc Veterans Memorial Building auditorium.

“The Great Indian Council 1833” is a mural painted by Gustaf Dalstrom, who was a Swedish-American artist that attended the Art Institute of Chicago and at one point was the President of the Chicago Society of Arts. Dalstrom painted many murals for the Treasury Department Section of Painting and Sculpture as known as The Treasury Section of Fine Arts. “The Great Indian Council 1833” was originally painted for the Post Office at 840 North Clark Street where it hung from 1938 (year it was finished) until 1983 when the Post Office was converted to a movie theater. The Mural also originally hung...

This fresco in the Post Office Terminal Annex lobby consists of eleven semi-circular, tempera on plaster "lunettes" by Boris Deutsch depicting "Cultural Contributions of North, South and Central America." The murals were funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts and completed in 1944. "The mural series entitled “The Cultural Contributions of North, South and Central America” in the Los Angeles Terminal Annex Post Office was painted in the early 1940s by Boris Deutsch. While the murals depict a number of indigenous North and South Americans, Mr. Deutsch himself was originally from Lithuania... In 1939, he received a commission from the United...

This Lew E. Davis tempera mural "Early Spanish Caballeros" was painted for the Los Banos post office in 1940. According to Kathryn A. Flynn's book The New Deal: A 75th Anniversary Celebration, "One of the most fruitful competitions of the Section project took place in 1939. It goal was to select the best mural design for a post office in each of our forty-eight states. Over three thousand entries were submitted. Jurors wer Maurice Sterne, Henry Varnum Poor, Edgar Miller, and Olin Dows. Once chosen, the forty-eight selections were exhibited around the country and shown in Life magazine that December." The...

This 24' x 9' egg tempera mural "The Legend of New Almaden" by Clay Spohn was originally painted for this high school with support from the WPA Federal Art Project. It was then variously moved, cut into smaller pieces and put in storage before being restored and returned to Los Gatos HS. There is a fascinating account of the controversy surrounding the legend depicted in the mural in this interview with the artist: https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/oralhistories/transcripts/spohn64.htm

Conrad Albrizio was commissioned by the Works Progress Administration to paint several murals in the foyer of the Capitol Annex. An exhibit in the foyer today explains that "Albrizio's murals in the Capitol Annex were designed to illustrate 'the achievements of the state program under the administration of' Governor Leche." They depict social security and social well being, industrial prowess, public construction, and health care. The murals have been recently restored by a conservator who "worked on restoration projects in Louisiana, most notably Conrad Albrizio's murals at the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum in Shreveport and his students' frescoes in LSU's Allen Hall....

As part of the original federal project funding the building of the museum, Conrad Albrizio was hired to paint this massive, recently restored fresco for the museum's entrance: "Conrad Albrizio is the artist of the four panels that comprise the massive fresco at the Louisiana State Exhibit Building. The amazing artwork covers 700 square feet of wall space around the Museum’s main entrance on Greenwood Road in Shreveport, Louisiana. Albrizio painted the mural in true fresco technique. This fresco and oil-painted murals throughout the museum depict images of Louisiana’s culture and economic development, including scenes from agriculture, lumber and oil industries,...

This fresco "Women's Contribution to American Progress" by Edward Millman was painted with WPA Federal Art Project funds. It depicts Lucy Flower, Grace Abbott, Frances Perkins, Jane Addams, Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Tubman, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Clara Barton. There are also allegorical scenes of "Women Sewing" and "Women's Fight for Peace." The mural was painted over in 1941. It was restored between 1995 and 1998.

Lunken Airport houses murals that were painted by William Harry Gothard and commissioned by the WPA's Federal Art Project (FAP). The murals were moved to be completed at Union Terminal in 1937 when a flood covered the airfield and terminal but were returned later. These murals are still on display at Lunken Airport. In the early 20s, Edmund P. Lunken purchased an airport built by ex-army pilots, and on September 5, 1928, he leased the property to the City of Cincinnati. The city purchased additional land, creating the Lunken Airport on 2,000 acres. In 1937, William Harry Gothard painted the murals...

A. Raymond Katz painted this oil on canvas mural, entitled "Assimilation of the Immigrant into the Industrial Life of Madison," in 1940 with funds provided by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. It is viewable in the Madison post office mural.

The interior of New York's Madison Square Station post office features eight tempera-on-plaster murals entitled "Scenes of New York" (1937-1939), commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts funding.  Four panels are found on each the right and left wall of the post office lobby, surrounding the central postal clerk counters. Professor Dolkart of Columbia University School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation notes that seven of the eight McLeary murals represent different New York City neighborhoods. In each neighborhood shown, someone is depicted doing a mail-related activity: "Lower East Side (reading a letter to a group); Broadway (carrying a letter); Central Park (reading...

Herman Struck painted a mural for the Magnolia Elementary School (formerly the Oakdale Union School) in Oakdale, California.   The mural was probably paid for by the Federal Art Project (FAP) and hung when the school was completed in 1938, but both those claims need to be verified. The mural hangs in the present school library, formerly the kindergarten room.

This oil on canvas mural, entitled "Post Office Interiors," was painted by Jack Greitzer in 1936 for the new main post office, which was completed in 1934. The mural still hangs in the original building, which was renamed the M.K. Ferguson building but is now known as the Tower City Center. From Covering History: Revisiting Federal Art in Cleveland, 1933-43 by Sharon Dean and Karal Marling: “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...

This grand post office takes up almost an entire city block. It was constructed in 1931 under the Treasury Department's supervising architect James A. Wetmore, prior to the advent of the New Deal. The post office contains six New Deal murals funded by the PWAP in 1934. The artists are W. H. Baker and Dwight Holmes. There are three paintings on each of the east and west walls of the office. The middle panels are approximately 4 feet by 9 feet. The outer panels are approximately 3 feet 6 inches by 4 feet. It is not clear which paintings were...

This tempera and oil on canvas mural "Incidents in California History" by Suzanne Scheuer was painted in 1936-37 with funding from the Treasury Relief Art Project. Located in the Berkeley Main Post Office. This mural depicts the earliest inhabitants of Berkeley. Scheuer was also one of the artists contributing to San Francisco's Coit Tower mural.

This 1934 post office contains two sets of 3-panel murals, one by Arthur Covey and the other by Robert Lambdin. All were painted in 1936. The Covey murals are entitled "Bridgeport Manufacturing." The Lambdin murals entitled "Stagecoach and Modern Transportation" show: "powerful images of an important part of American historythat is, the transportation of mail. A stagecoach was depicted on one panel to show the early days of mail transportvia horses and wagons. Another panel showed the work inside the post office, with men carrying bags loaded down with huge deliveries. By the 1936, the idea of planes transporting mail was now...

The post office contains a massive set of murals by Vincent Aderente that wrap around the interior of the lobby. The murals depicts scenes from the early history of the twelve communities served by the Flushing Post Office. Some sources suggest that the murals were funded by the Civil Works Administration through the Public Works of Art Project, administered by the Treasury Department, in 1933-34, though further confirmation of this is needed.

The post office contains nine stunning murals by artists Edward Millman and Mitchell Siporin. Depicting the "cycle on history of the region," this massive project was the largest single project awarded for a Post Office by the Treasury Section. The award shared by the 2 was $29,000. The labels following each mural describe the contents quite well, but as Park and Markowitz noted, the works were not depicting the usual classical conquest, but instead showed Indians and Black slaves working the lead mines well before statehood, the Dred Scott Decision, and the struggles during and after the Civil War. The...

These three murals by Gustaf Dahlstrom - "Fall," "Winter" and "Summer," each about 12'7" h x 9'8"w - were found in 1996 during a lead abatement program. Restored in 2002, they had been painted over three times.  

In 1934, Frank Long completed two murals, entitled "Labor" and "Recreation," for the browsing room of the University of Kentucky library, with funding from the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP). The above photo depicts "Labor," in situ, in 1939. From contributor Charles Swaney: "The murals consist of 2 ten foot tall panels, oil on canvas, that are in arched alcoves. The thrust of both murals is upwards and towards the center of the murals.  There is a strong component of rounded upwards that is complimentary for both of them.  They are presently in the special collections center of the library,...

The Marine Air Terminal contains the largest WPA mural ever painted. "Flight" measures 12 feet (3.7 m) in height and 237 feet (72 m) in length. Artist James Brooks completed this mural depicting the history of flight in 1940. "It was completely painted over by the Port Authority of NY and NJ in the 1950s during the Red Scare, but was restored in 1980 and in 1995 the building was declared a historic landmark."   (kermitproject.org) Flynn and Polese report that the mural was completed in 1942.

Daniel Rhodes painted this egg tempera mural on plaster in 1939 for the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. It was originally installed in the post office and was restored in 2008. Iowa-born artist Daniel Rhodes painted a number of murals for the federal government during the Great Depression. "Communication by Mail," depicting modern railroad technology, was his last Iowa mural commission. It is one of only three true fresco murals in Iowa. From an article in the Marion Times: The former Marion Post Office on 8th Avenue, was built with WPA funds in 1939. A mural, by Fort Dodge resident, Dan Rhodes, was...

Alexander Rummler painted these two murals for the Norwalk High School cafeteria: "Shucking Oysters" and "Day's End." The murals were funded by the WPA's Federal Art Project. They were restored in 1986 and are now located in Norwalk's Maritime Aquarium.

"Psychological Color Chart; Dr. Oswald's Color Solid" (1940), oil on canvas, is in the west wing.

The mural "Spring and Fall" was painted by Grace Spongberg in 1939 with support from the WPA Federal Art Project.

Many of the projects of the New Deal involved large scale public works projects that required hundreds of workers. While this type of project was incredibly important to help alleviate widespread unemployment, there was also a belief that the United States should not forsake its cultural heritage. As such, Federal Project Number One was formed as a division of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to give work to so-called "starving artists," as well as musicians, playwrights, and writers. The Federal Art Project is particularly well known for creating murals in public places across the country. In 1937, artist Umberto Romano...

Artist Edward Brodney won two WPA competitions during the 1930s to paint two murals at Massachusetts's State House in Boston, MA. "Columbia Knighting Her World War Disabled" and "World War Mothers" are located on the second floor underneath the statehouse dome. The New York Times: "In 1936 Mr. Brodney won a competition sponsored by the Federal Works Progress Administration, which supported many artistic projects during the Depression, to paint a mural for the Massachusetts Statehouse. It was called 'Columbia Knighting Her World War Disabled,' and he persuaded friends to pose, since the W.P.A. could not afford models." "n 1938 Mr. Brodney won another W.P.A....

This mural was originally a four-panel screen. Its three remaining panels, each 8' x 4', were restored in 2001.  

"The McKinley County Courthouse, itself a New Deal arts project, houses 19 pieces of New Deal art, and murals, tile work, lamps, and furniture by New Deal artists and crafts workers grace the courthouses interior." (www.co.mckinley.nm.us) "Inside the lobby, Indian motifs are featured in the tile wainscoting, lettered signs, pendant lighting fixtures, and Pueblo-style paintings on the plaster walls, all set off by hand-made wooden furniture and oil paintings by New Mexican artists. The second-floor court room has ten-foot murals depicting the history of McKinley County which were completed by Lloyd Moylan in 1940 and restored in 1991." (www.co.mckinley.nm.us/courthouse_project.htm) The murals depict the...

"The McKinley County Courthouse, itself a New Deal arts project, houses 19 pieces of New Deal art, and murals, tile work, lamps, and furniture by New Deal artists and crafts workers grace the courthouses interior." (www.co.mckinley.nm.us) "Inside the lobby, Indian motifs are featured in the tile wainscoting, lettered signs, pendant lighting fixtures, and Pueblo-style paintings on the plaster walls, all set off by hand-made wooden furniture and oil paintings by New Mexican artists."(www.co.mckinley.nm.us/courthouse_project.htm) One of the WPA Federal Art Projects murals in the building is this 1942 mural "The Zuni Potters" by Anna Keener Wilton.

This 16' x 40', oil on canvas mural, "Modern Education/School Activities," was completed in 1942 by Frank Tolles Chamberlin after seven years of intermittent work. He received funding from the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) in 1934 and from the Federal Art Project (FAP) from 1935. The mural adorns the school library. The artist described its theme as "youth and its activities." According to Pasadena News Now, "With a typical Southern California landscape as a backdrop, forty-nine students of different backgrounds participate in a number of activities such as chemistry, sculpture, radio transmission, horseback riding and blacksmithing. The mural conveys...

The Melrose Park Library is located in the building that was previously the main post office for Melrose Park. In 2007 "Airmail" was rediscovered hidden by a drop ceiling. It was painted by Edwin Boyd Johnson in 1937 with funding from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. Medium: fresco Size: 8' long, 4 1/2 high Restoration Info: Restored by Parma Conservation and returned to Melrose Park in 2010.

O. Louis Guglielmi completed a mural, entitled "One Third of a Nation," in 1939 with funds provided by the Works Progress Administration. It was given by the WPA to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1943. "The title of this work references President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1937 inaugural address, in which he proclaimed, 'I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished.' 'One Third of a Nation' is also the title of Arthur Arent’s 1938 play, which emphasized the plight of the poor and was funded by the WPA’s Federal Theatre Project. In this painting Guglielmi draws attention to the horrid...

With WPA support, Cal Peters painted several murals for the University of Wisconsin-Stout campus, circa 1935-1936. "French Trappers on the Red Cedar" is a 7' x 18' oil on canvas, depicting French Trappers on the Red Cedar, future site of Menomonie, Wisconsin. Location: Hallway connecting Micheels Hall and Jarvis Hall Technology Wing, University of Wisconsin-Stout

From the Kresge Art Museum website: "Originally intended for the Bessemer Courthouse boardroom in the Upper Peninsula, Natural Resources of Northern Michigan was given to Frances and Walter M. Berry sometime in the mid 1940s in appreciation for their years of local and statewide community service. The mural hung in the Caspian Community Center where Berry worked before becoming the Director of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration. In 1957, the Berrys donated the mural to the Michigan State University Museum, where it now hangs in the Auditorium on the second floor. Natural Resources of Northern Michigan depicts an amalgamated view of...

Michigan State University's main library houses a mural by Henry Bernstein titled "America's First Agricultural College." The work was first created for the then-new East Lansing post office. From the Kresge Art Museum New Deal Walking Tour: "Originally commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts ... for the old East Lansing Post Office on Abbott Road (now Dublin Square Pub), this mural is typical of the emphasis on representational art, scenes of local history, and nostalgia for the disappearing rural life. The Section, however, did not initially approve of Bernstein’s proposals for the mural, which all related to Michigan State University. Although Bernstein...

This mural is located on the first floor of the Union Building on the MSU campus. Plaque on site: "During the Great Depression, through President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration program, many artists were commissioned to decorate public buildings. This mural depicting Thomas Edison's workshop was painted by Edgar Yaeger for the Public Lighting Commission building in Detroit. The artist retrieved the mural when the building was razed in 1983 to make room for the Renaissance Center. In 1988 at the age of 84, Mr. Yaeger restored the mural with the assistance of Kat Skotarczyk. Two years later, he donated...

Three very large New Deal murals hang in the auditorium of the Royal Oak Middle School. The first two,  "The Naming of Royal Oak" and "The Value of Arts, Culture, and Science," were painted by Andrew Maglia. The third, "Career Paths," was painted by Bronislaw Makielski.   Maglia worked on the first two paintings, then bowed out for lack of funds; when funding was renewed, Makielski was commissioned to complete the project.  Apparently, Makielski was substantially aided by his brother on the third mural. The murals were commissioned by the Federal Arts Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), though exact information about...

Abraham Joel Tobias completed the mural, entitled "Science," in 1942 with funds provided by the Works Progress Administration (WPA).