Murals Sites

These tempera murals depicting the "History of Printing Through the Ages" were created by Suzanne Miller with FAP funds. There were originally five panels in this series; two have been destroyed, but the murals depicting the history of printing in China, Egypt, and "Modern" times remain.

In 1937, P. G. Napolitano completed a mural at South Pasadena Junior High School (today's South Pasadena Middle School) in South Pasadena, CA. Located in the school's music room, the mural received funding from the Federal Art Project (FAP). “Mr. Napolitano’s main interest has always been in murals, which he executes in tempra (egg white), in frescoes, and in Sgraffito which he introduced here in creative work. Much of his work is marked by the omission of pretty detail and mere decorativeness until only the essential stand out; economy of line, rhythm, and strength are the three uppermost qualities” (Wells,...

This 1941 mural by Victor Arnautoff depicts "South San Francisco, Past and Present." The 3-panel oil on canvas was funded by the Section of Fine Arts in 1941.

The painting seems to be of North Beach, San Francisco.

In 1938 Carl E. Noble completed six oil-on-canvas murals depicting the history of firefighting for the Hempstead Volunteer Fire Department’s Southside Hose Co. No. 2. The murals wrap around the company's second-floor meeting room. Noble painted the murals for the Hempstead Fire Department under the Federal Art Project (FAP) of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The titles of the six murals are: Pioneer Fire Fighting, Old Time Fire Gong, First Hempstead Hose Cart, Hempstead Riding Academy Fire, and Modern Fire Fighting Equipment (2 murals). The murals, while not generally accessible to the public, are still intact. The Long Island Historical Journal recounts...

The mural "Harvesting Tobacco" by Roy Schat was commissioned by the federal Treasury Section of Fine Arts funds. Originally created for the then-new Whiteville post office, the work was completed in 1941. Since the post office's relocation the mural is now on display at Southeastern Community College in Whiteville, NC.

This series of seven oil-on-canvas murals, painted by Xavier Gonzalez in 1937 and entitled "Strawberry Farming," were hung in the post office until 1970, when they were moved to Southeaster Louisiana University. "Much of Gonzalez's work was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture… and its smaller affiliate, the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP)." (knowla.org)

Philadelphia's historic Southwark Station post office contains two Section of Fine Arts murals by Robert E. Larter. The oil on canvas murals were painted in 1938 and entitled "Iron Plantation Near Southwark - 1800" and "Shipyards at Southwark - 1800." : In 1938, the Section of Fine Arts commissioned the 26 year old artist Robert E. Larter to paint two oil-on-canvas murals on opposite ends of the post office’s interior. They are respectively titled “Iron Plantation Near Southwark – 1800″ and “Shipyards at Southwark-1800.” The shipyard mural is inaccessible to the public, since the post office built a wall of mailboxes two feet...

"Philadelphia artist Walter Gardner (1902-1996) painted “The Streets of Philadelphia” in 1937 for the Spring Garden Post Office, one of many across the country built as part of President Roosevelt’s New Deal.  The painting depicts a bustling street scene with workers unloading goods in front of the Merchant Exchange on Dock Street.  Murals like this one represent an important chapter in American history, when federal policies encouraged the production of art “for the masses” to combat the economic and social challenges wrought by the Great Depression.  Gardner was an English-born painter who emigrated to Philadelphia as a teenager and studied...

The post office contains a 1942 Section of Fine Arts mural entitled "History of Squirrel Hill." The oil on canvas mural was painted by Alan Thompson.

From the University of Arizona Libraries Digital Collection: “Public Works Administration funds were used to construct the State Capitol Annex Building in 1938 and to hire Jay Datus to paint a series of murals entitled “The Pageant of Arizona Progress.” Datus came to Arizona in 1937 at the age of 23, already an accomplished and well-known artist. He spent two years in research for these works in order to accurately depict the dress and actions of his subjects. His figures include Native Americans, miners, explorers, missionaries and pioneers.”

This oil-on-canvas mural, entitled "Builders of Salem," was painted in 1942 by Andrew McD. Vincent, with funding from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. The original post office lobby was subdivided into Conference Rooms A & B when the building became the Executive Building, and the mural now hangs in Conference Room A (https://www.oregon.gov/DAS/EAM/pages/building_info/executive.aspx).

The Stockton Federal Building contains two 1936 murals funded by the Section of Fine Arts. This mural "Modern Transport of the Mail" by Frank Bergman is an 8' x 12' oil on canvas depicting the delivery of mail.

The Stockton Federal Building contains two 1936 murals funded by the Section of Fine Arts. This oil on canvas mural "Mail And Travel By Stage" by Jose Moya del Pino depicts stage coach travel in early California.

"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 ... four panels in the Rock Springs High School library by Minerva Teichert of Cokeville ..." "The Rock Springs panels were removed from the Rock Springs High School and reinstalled in the Sweetwater County School District #1 Central Administration Building in Rock Springs."

The Works Progress Administration commissioned the modernist mural in 1937 for the PWA-funded Williamsburg Housing Project in Brooklyn, New York. Only five of the murals planned for the International Style development were ever installed. Rediscovered in the 1980's after being painted over, the five installed murals were restored and are now on loan to the Brooklyn Museum. Swing Landscape was never installed at the Williamsburg Houses and has been at the IU Art Museum (now the Sidney and Lois Eskanazi Museum of Art) since 1942. A seventh mural, Sixth Avenue El, by Francis Criss also was never installed at Williamsburg...

A 38' x 8' oil on canvas depicting a farm nestled in the Marin hills, "The Golden Hills of Marin" was painted by Maurice del Mue with funding from the WPA Federal Art Project. The mural "was removed from the wall of the high school library in the 1960s and rolled up face-in, causing extensive damage and compression cracks." However a major restoration effort recently returned the mural to its rightful place.

This 1936 WPA mural by Rufino Tamayo is on extended loan to the New York Museum of Modern Art. The history of the mural before it was placed in the museum is unknown to the Living New Deal.

The seven murals on display in the Airside E Terminal of the Tampa International Airport were commissioned from artist George Snow Hill in 1939 under New Deal sponsorship: "In the late 1930's, local artist George Snow Hill was commissioned to create these murals to adorn the walls of Tampa's newly built Peter O. Knight Airport. Hill artistically interpreted the history of flight through the contributions made by Icarus and Daedalus, Archimedes, The Montgolfier Brothers, Otto Lilienthal, Tony Jannus, The Wright Brothers, and a triptych, capturing the first scheduled airline flight in history. The murals were removed from the walls of the Peter...

"When the new courthouse was completed in January 1934, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) commissioned four of Taos’ premier artists to paint ten murals in the facility as part of the New Deal, to alleviate some of the crunching poverty resulting from the Depression... Emil Bisttram, Ward Lockwood, Bert Phillips, and Victor Higgins...would become known as the 'Taos Fresco Quartet.' The original intent of the project was to have 13 panels of murals - 11 narrow vertical ones, a round medallion over the entrance, and Higgins’ large central Ten Commandments piece. The ten completed murals were...

"When the new courthouse was completed in January 1934, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) commissioned four of Taos’ premier artists to paint ten murals in the facility as part of the New Deal, to alleviate some of the crunching poverty resulting from the Depression... Emil Bisttram, Ward Lockwood, Bert Phillips, and Victor Higgins...would become known as the 'Taos Fresco Quartet.' The original intent of the project was to have 13 panels of murals - 11 narrow vertical ones, a round medallion over the entrance, and Higgins’ large central Ten Commandments piece. The ten completed murals were...

"When the new courthouse was completed in January 1934, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) commissioned four of Taos’ premier artists to paint ten murals in the facility as part of the New Deal, to alleviate some of the crunching poverty resulting from the Depression... Emil Bisttram, Ward Lockwood, Bert Phillips, and Victor Higgins...would become known as the 'Taos Fresco Quartet.' The original intent of the project was to have 13 panels of murals - 11 narrow vertical ones, a round medallion over the entrance, and Higgins’ large central Ten Commandments piece. The ten completed murals were...

"When the new courthouse was completed in January 1934, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) commissioned four of Taos’ premier artists to paint ten murals in the facility as part of the New Deal, to alleviate some of the crunching poverty resulting from the Depression... Emil Bisttram, Ward Lockwood, Bert Phillips, and Victor Higgins...would become known as the 'Taos Fresco Quartet.' The original intent of the project was to have 13 panels of murals - 11 narrow vertical ones, a round medallion over the entrance, and Higgins’ large central Ten Commandments piece. The ten completed murals were...

A set of four murals, “History of the Printed Word”, was painted by local artist Robert Martin and unveiled in 1937. The murals were funded by the WPA’s Federal Art Project. "The four oil-painted canvas murals are attached to the walls and depict monks lettering parchments, men working on an early printing press, bookbinders in the 18th century and a (then) contemporary newspaper press" (Teaneck Virtual Library).

Bertram Goodman completed this mural, entitled "Evolution of the Book," in 1936 with funds provided by the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

The mural entitled "Scenes from Tennessee History," made up of 11 panels, was painted by Jihayr Zorthian.  It can be found in the Governor's Reception Hall in the Tennessee State Capitol.  The Federal Art Project (FAP) commissioned the work.

The Terminal Annex Federal Building contains two oil on canvas murals by Peter Hurd: "Pioneer Home Builders" and “Airmail Over Texas.” They were painted in 1940-1941 with funding from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. From an entry on the website Unvisited Dallas by Noah Jeppson: Soon after the Terminal Annex was completed, three murals were commissioned and a national design competition was held. From an entry field of 149 applicants regionalist painter Peter Hurd — who rose to national fame in the 1930s — won the anonymous competition (the winning designs were displayed with all other entries at the Dallas Museum...

Three murals were commissioned for Tewksbury Hospital by the Federal Art Project. The works presented scenes related to the heritage of the area, and were created by: Maurice Compris (looms); Samuel F. Hershey (quarries and factory work); and W. Lester Stevens (farm work, boat building, and fishing).

A Harold Everett "Bubi" Jessen mural entitled "Pageant of Texas," created with funding from the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), hangs on a wall within the Colonial Era Mission of Nuestra Señora del Espíritu Santo de Zuñiga, at the Goliad State Park and Historic Site. This mural once hung at the Texas State Capitol building.

Nassau County's Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative Building houses a set of four murals created as a New Deal project. They are located above the staircases, at the second floor of the building's rotunda. Created by Robert Gaston Herbert, these Federal Art Project-funded murals depict "important events in Nassau County's history," and were restored in 2007. Mural descriptions: Gov. Theodore Roosevelt laying the corner-stone of the Nassau Co. Court-house, July 13th, 1900. The Youngs Mansion, Oyster Bay, built in 1652 by Thomas Youngs. George Washington honored the house with an over-night visit in 1790. New York's counties were created in 1683 by Gov....

Modernization efforts conducted on Theodore Roosevelt High School in 2013 uncovered two 1934 frescoes by Nelson Rosenberg and students at the school, entitled "Adolescent America" and "American Panorama."  Rosenberg was funded under the Public Works of Art Project, which gave commissions to unemployed artists in the Great Depression. The frescoes were restored and are apparently now on display in the cafeteria. The school itself was built 1930-1932, before the New Deal began.

In 1937, Ross Dickinson painted "History of the Recorded Word" in the Thomas Jefferson High School library (Los Angeles, CA) with Works Progress Administration (WPA) Federal Arts Project funding. The mural is comprised of four panels, each 10' by 5.5'. The panels depict the history of printing, with subjects including hieroglyphs, manuscripts, and modern printing. After six months of research, Dickinson painted the mural in five weeks. According to the Los Angeles Sentinel (one of the most influential African-American newspapers in the Western United States), "Dickinson was employed as an art teacher at the Art Center School of Los Angeles and needed...

Artist P. G. Napolitano painted a pair of murals, titled "Spirit of the Fiesta," at Thomas Starr King Middle School in Los Angeles, CA. The two 9' by 12' panels—featuring a male and female figure—are located above the north court balcony. Napolitano received funding from the Federal Arts Project (FAP). "Mr. Napolitano's main interest has always been in murals, which he executes in tempra (egg white), in frescoes, and in Sgraffito which he introduced here in creative work. Much of his work is marked by the omission of pretty detail and mere decorativeness until only the essential stand out; economy...

Artist James Redmond painted a small mural, titled "California Horsemen," at Thomas Starr King Middle School in Los Angeles, CA. He received funding from the Federal Arts Project (FAP). Redmond reportedly preferred "California Horsemen" to the large mural he painted at Banning High School in Los Angeles, CA (Wells, p. 21). His other New Deal–funded works in the region include a post office mural in Compton, CA. According to a 1937 article in the Los Angeles School Journal, "The greatest single patron of Federal art among the schools of the Los Angeles system is Thomas Start King Junior High School, whose principal...

Timberline Lodge was built in 1936-38 as a ski lodge 6,000 feet up on Mount Hood, and it still serves that purpose.  It was equally a showcase for the accomplishments of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The four-story structure was built in Northwestern rustic style using large timbers and local stone, with a striking central "headhouse" built in a hexagon around a 90-foot stone chimney with large fireplaces on all sides. The interior is a marvel of decorative elements designed to feature Northwestern native and pioneer styles in wood carving, furniture, textiles, metal work, light fixtures, stone work and paintings. The interior decor...

The Reptile House was the first of five buildings constructed by the WPA at the Toledo Zoo. These buildings are still in use today. FAP artist Forrest "Woody" LaPlante was one of three muralists who painted botanical backgrounds in each reptile exhibit. Most of these murals were destroyed in the 1970s, but the remaining murals were restored by LaPlante in the 1990s. The building was constructed from materials recycled from local areas, such as the Wabash Railroad shops and the former Miami and Erie canals. The architecture of the building was inspired by Spanish and Moorish styles in reference to the city's...

Topeka High School has three examples of David Hicks Overmyer’s work, two carried out under the WPA’s Federal Art Project. The first is the large painting “Pageant of Old England” which was commissioned by the Topeka School Board in 1936, completed in 1937, and funded by the FAP. It was created for the English Room, an oversized classroom that includes a fireplace, Tudor-style woodwork, and a gothic-arched stage. The painting shows a group of medieval figures passing through an English village with a large castle in the background. “Pageant of Old England” currently still hangs in the English Room. In 1938,...

In 1936-1937, Anna Katharine Skeele painted mural titled "Home Life in Old Taos" which was commissioned by the Federal Arts Project (FAP). Skeele was a Monrovia, California based artist known for her portraits and focus on Native Americans in the Southwest. "Home in Old Taos" was her first mural painting. She made several trips to Taos, New Mexico to research and develop ideas for the painting. "Home Life in Old Taos" is 8' x 30'  and is oil on canvas. It "depicts Pueblo Indian men and women working on daily tasks, such as grinding corn and collecting water from a river near...

"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 four panels in the Torrington High School auditorium executed by Ernest Stevens of Van Tassell ..." "The Torrington panels were removed from the old high school when it was sold by the district and were cleaned, restored and installed in the new high school building around 2005."

These three murals "...and 14 others were originally created as public art specifically for Danvers Town Hall. The project began in 1934 under the joint auspices of the Works Progress Administration Artist and Writers Project and the then solidly Republican Town of Danvers. Numerous local citizens, including William C. Endicott, Jasper Marsh, Lester Couch, Harriet S. Tapley, Ivan G. Smith, Victor D. Elmere, William R. Lynch and the local VFW donated cash for the materials used in the project, while the Federal WPA Administration paid the artists' modest salaries. Principal artist of these works of art on canvas was Richard V....