Murals Sites

"Ross Moffett studied with Hawthorne and was one of the first year-round painters in Provincetown, moving into Days Lumberyard in 1914. "Gathering Beach Plums" and "Spreading Nets," his large murals in the Town Hall entrance were painted in 1934 under the federal Public Works of Art Project of the Depression era. An easel painter and monotype artist, Moffett undertook only one other mural commission in his career." (IAmProvincetown.com)

Artist Walter Korder painted an extensive series of WPA murals for what was then Hall High School, and is now the Town Hall: "His 1,000 square foot mural covers all four walls of Room 312 and chronicles main events in the history of Connecticut and throughout the New England area... Korder completed the masterpiece in 1941 in what was originally a library when the building was known as Hall High School. The stunning detail and vibrant colors preserve a history that dates back to the Red Paint Man of Maine and the Algonquin Indians. “It represents things that are not always represented,” Slifka...

The former post office originally contained three oil on canvas murals by Edith Hamlin, painted in 1938 under the auspices of the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. "Days of First Railroad" and "Spaniards" still hang in the building, while a third mural, "Overland Pioneers," is missing.

The Transylvania County Library in Brevard, North Carolina houses a 1941 Section of Fine Arts mural commissioned for the city's old post office: "Good News," painted by Pietro Lazzari. The medium is glazed tempera. The mural remained in its original location, which served as a post office until 1972 and then the now-former Transylvania County Library building, until 2006.

Miguel Covarrubias painted six murals on the theme "Pageant of the Pacific" for the Golden Gate International Exposition. They were displayed on Treasure Island along with other art objects on the theme of "Pacific Unity" from 1939-1940. The murals have been housed in several locations since the 1940s. The Treasure Island Development Authority now looks after five of the murals, including one currently on display at the de Young museum. The other four are currently in storage. A sixth mural disappeared in the 1940s and its whereabouts are currently unknown. The long term plan for the murals is to reinstall them on...

The historic federal building (now U.S. Bankruptcy Courthouse) in Tallahassee, Florida houses an example of New Deal artwork: an eight-panel mural titled "History of Florida." Wikipedia: "The murals were funded by the Treasury Department's Section of Painting and Sculpture, a Depression-era program ... Hungarian-born American Edward “Buk” Ulreich (1889-1966) won a competition to paint the murals, which he completed in 1939." GSA description of the eight panels: 1) Five Standards on Parade shows the flags that have flown over Florida: Spanish, French, English, Confederate, and American. 2) Aborigine depicts the customs and life of Florida's native inhabitants at the time of early exploration. 3) Spain's influence...

Now known as the Gene Snyder U.S. Courthouse and Custom House, the historic United States Post Office, Court House and Custom House in Louisville, Kentucky houses New Deal artwork. "The building was among the first recipients of artwork commissioned by the Treasury Relief Art Project — a program ... that employed painters and sculptors to incorporate art within the interiors of federal buildings nationwide. In 1935, the PWA funded artist Frank Weathers Long, a Kentucky native, to paint ten murals depicting regional themes of commerce, agriculture, and sport."

Artist Tom Lea was commissioned in 1938 to paint the "Pass of the North" mural for the Federal Courthouse in El Paso. The Treasury Section of Fine Arts funded the project. Artist Milford Zornes spoke about Tom Lea's art at the El Paso Courthouse: “Both are very fine and an inspiration to me. The Tom Lea especially pleased me. It was in beautiful color harmony with the room. So beautiful and skillfully painted. To me the idea of going through a country, feeling its characteristic personality, then being able to see in the vicinity the work of a painter who has interpreted...

The old Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House dates to 1902-1907 and today serves as the New York branch of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, as well as housing the New York branch of the National Archives and the records of Reginald Marsh. During the Great Depression, the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP) funded artist Reginald Marsh to decorate the main rotunda ceiling with a series of massive frescoes.  The frescoes, painted in 1936-37, depict eight New York Harbor scenes and eight portraits of great navigators. The ensemble is one of the most magnificent of New Deal mural installations in New York City.  

The custom house contains a series of 31 murals painted by George Harding in 1938. They were funded by the Treasury Section's Section of Fine Arts program and depict the "Custom House and Court Activities" and "Various Port Activities in Philadelphia." "The interior was the result of an extraordinary collaboration among Brandywine School artist George Harding, architect Howell Lewis Shay, and Philadelphia Museum of Art director Fiske Kimball (who recommended Harding). Harding's significant mural program consists of a series of 31 separate panels in the vestibule, elevator lobby, and rotunda area. The selection of ornamental motifs, based entirely on nautical...

Once a U.S. Federal Courthouse & Post Office, the building at 101 S 1st St. in Cedar Rapids, Iowa now serves as the city hall. The courtroom is now the chambers for the city council, and is the location for four murals generated under the Treasury Relief Art Project between 1936-1937.

The fresco "Steel Industry" by Howard Norton Cook is located in Pittsburgh's historic U.S. Courthouse and Post Office. It was sponsored by the U.S. Treasury Department's Section of Fine Arts. The work was installed in the building in 1936. Its size is 10'6" x 17'5".

The mural "Modern Justice," located at Pittsburgh's historic U.S. Courthouse and Post Office, was sponsored by the U.S. Treasury Department's Section of Fine Arts. The work was painted by Kindred McLeary in 1937. However, the work has since been painted over.

The oil-on-canvas mural "Pittsburgh Panorama" by Stuyvesant Van Veen is located in Pittsburgh's historic U.S. Courthouse and Post Office. It was sponsored by the U.S. Treasury Department's Section of Fine Arts in 1937.

This WPA angel fresco sits in the Richardson Hall administration building at the Southwest corner of the campus at Hermann and Laguna. With the recent plans for demolition, parts of the building have been demolished and access to this fresco appears to have been privatized. The fresco may have been painted by Hebe Daum.

The Annex contains a 1937 WPA fresco, "A Dissertation on Alchemy", by Reuben Kadish and Urban Neininger. The fresco is 9' x 11' and is located in the stairwell in the northeast corner of the Woods Hall Annex.

A ten panel fresco depicting the "History of Medicine in California" was completed by Bernard Zakheim in 1936 with FAP funds. The mural is located in Toland Hall. Zakheim also painted another pair of murals in 1935 for Cole Hall: "Rational Medicine" and "Superstitious Medicine." These frescoes of ground earth pigment on incised plaster were relocated to Health Sciences West in 1967. The program behind these murals is unknown to the Living New Deal.

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC by some of the finest American artists of the time. Kiowa artist James Auchiah studied mural painting with Olle Nordmark in Oklahoma before coming to Washington.  Auchiah painted a large (8' x 50'), oil-on-rough-plaster lunette, "Harvest Dance", on the west wall of the main cafeteria in the basement. It was funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.   "Auchiah's mural, 'Harvest Dance,' is an example of pure design and centers on a scene of Indians around a campfire with their tipis...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC, by some of the finest American artists of the time.  In 1938, Louis Bouché won a competition held by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts to paint a backdrop for the Department auditorium.  He produced a giant triptych called "Conservation - Western Lands and Symbols of the Interior Department."  It is almost 12 feet high; the central section is 15 feet wide and the two side panels are over 4 feet wide. It was removed in 1971 for many years...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC, by some of the finest American artists of the time. Edgar Britton painted "Petroleum Industry: Production" and "Petroleum Industry: Distribution and Use" in 1939, with funding from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. These frescoes to recognize the Petroleum Division of the Bureau of Mines are hung in the 4th floor main corridor, north of the elevator lobby. The Department of Interior Museum offers regular mural tours; check their website for information and registration.  For more information on the Interior building,...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC by some of the finest American artists of the time. In 1938, Nicolai Cikovsky painted four murals commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts: "Apples," "Gathering Dates," "Desert" and "Irrigation."   They can be found on the 2d floor in the main corridor, south of the Grand Staircase. The Department of Interior Museum offers regular mural tours; check their website for information and registration.  For more information on the Interior building, its art and the artists, see Look and Perrault...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC, by some of the finest American artists of the time.  From 1939 to 1941, Woodrow Wilson Crumbo of the Creek-Potawatomie Tribe in Oklahoma and other Indian artists were invited to Washington to study mural painting with Olle Nordmark and then create murals in the Interior building. Crumbo painted several murals concerning Potawatomie life in inner room of the South Penthouse on the 8th floor (the former Employees' Break Room).  They are: "Buffalo Hunt", "Wild Horses", "Deer", "Courting", "Flute Player", "Peyote Bird." The Department of Interior...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC, by some of the finest American artists of the time.  John Steuart Curry painted “The Rush for the Oklahoma Land – 1889” (not 1894 as it says in the bronze plaque) and "The Homesteading and the Building of Barbed Wire Fences" in 1937-39. They were commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts and painted to honor the General Land Office and Grazing Service, precursors to today's Bureau of Land Management, and hang on the 5th floor main corridor,...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC by some of the finest American artists of the time. In 1938, Ernest Fiene painted a set of four oil-on-canvas murals depicting the land management functions of the Department of Interior, with funding from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.  They are: "Winter Roundup," "Placer Mining," "Replanting Wasteland" and "Fighting Forest Fire."   They are installed on the Second Floor main corridor, north of the Grand Staircase. The Department of Interior Museum offers regular mural tours; check their website for information and registration. For...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC by some of the finest American artists of the time. William Gropper painted an enormous, 3-panel oil-on-canvas mural, entitled "Construction of a Dam".  It was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts c 1936-37 and installed in 1940. The mural, which honors the work of the Bureau of Reclamation, hangs on the 2d floor across the south end of the main corridor.   Gropper was a left-leaning artist who celebrated the workers building the dam and in the rightmost panel...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC by some of the finest American artists of the time. From 1939 to 1941, several Indian artists were invited by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts to study with Olle Nordmark and then paint murals in the Interior building. In 1940, Velino Herrera from the Zia Pueblo in New Mexico painted a set of murals called "Pueblo Life" in what is now the South Penthouse on the 8th floor (formerly the Employees' Break Room). On the East Wall are "Buffalo...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC, by some of the finest American artists of the time. From 1939 to 1941, Allan Capron Houser and other Indian artists were invited by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts to study mural painting with Olle Nordmark and then paint murals in the Interior building.  Houser was from the Fort Sill Apache Tribe in Oklahoma. In the South Penthouse on the 8th floor (the former Employees' Break Room), Houser painted three large murals on "Apache Scenes" in 1940: "Singing Love Songs,"...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC, by some of the finest American artists of the time – including several by Native American artists. The Indian Craft Shop, Room 1023, was included in the building in order to aid Native American artists and crafts people to reach a wider public (it was originally known as the "Arts and Crafts Shop"). On the north wall of the Indian Craft Shop on the 1st floor there are two small murals by Allan Capron Houser, "Buffalo Hunt" and "Breaking Camp...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC by some of the finest American artists of the time. Mitchell Jamieson's painting, "An Incident in Contemporary American Life," depicts the  April 9, 1939 Marian Anderson concert at the Lincoln Memorial.  That concert came about after the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) refused to allow Anderson to sing before an integrated audience in Constitution Hall.  That incident infuriated many people, including Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who arranged for a public concert...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC, by some of the finest American artists of the time.  David McCosh painted two murals for  the National Park Service, both created in 1940 with funding from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts, entitled, “Themes of the National Parks.”  One is dominated by a vista of Yosemite with smaller scenes of Carlsbad Caverns, Devils Tower, Crater Lake, and Yellowstone. The other features Bryce Canyon with smaller scenes of Olympic, Sequoia, Mesa Verde, Death Valley, and Rainbow Bridge. They can be found...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC by some of the finest American artists of the time. Several Indian artists were invited to Washington in 1939-41 to study mural art and paint murals for the Interior Building. Kiowa artist Stephen Mopope painted "Ceremonial Dance (Indian Theme)" in 1939, with funding from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.  It is a large (6' x 50') oil-on-plaster lunette on the east wall of the main cafeteria in the basement. The Department of Interior Museum offers regular mural tours; check their website...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC by some of the finest American artists of the time. From 1939 to 1941, Gerald Nailor, a Navajo, and other Indian artists were invited by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts to Washington to study with Olaf Normandy and then paint murals in the Interior building.   In the South Penthouse (8th floor), Nailor painted three large murals called "Navajo Scenes" in 1940: "Preparing Yarn For Weaving" (West Wall), "The Hunting Ground" (South Wall on both side of entry door)...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC by some of the finest American artists of the time. James Michael Newell painted two murals, "Insular Possession: Virgin Islands" and "Insular Possession: Alaska," in 1939, with funding from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.  They depict the work of the Office of Insular Affairs, one of many agencies within the Department of Interior, and hang on the 6th floor north of the elevator lobby. The Department of Interior Museum offers regular mural tours; check their website for information and registration.  For...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC by some of the finest American artists of the time. The Department of Interior Museum organizes tours by prior arrangement.  Henry Varnum Poor painted "Conservation of American Wildlife" in 1939, with funding from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.  This enormous fresco, covering an entire end wall at the north end of the 3d floor corridor,  acknowledges the work of the Bureau of Biological Survey and Bureau of Fisheries (reorganized into the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 1940)....

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC by some of the finest American artists of the time.  Millard Sheets produced a four-panel, oil-on-canvas mural, “The Negro’s Contribution in the Social and Cultural Development of America”, featuring The Arts, Education, Science and Religion. This imposing set of murals was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts in 1939 but not installed until 1948, owing to disagreements over the original subject matter. While Sheets was white, he sought to express "my high regard and feeling for the...

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC, by some of the finest American artists of the time.  Gifford Beal painted "Tropical Country" and "North Country" in 1941 with funding from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. They hang on the 5th floor, south of the elevator lobby. The Department of Interior Museum offers regular mural tours; check their website for information and registration.  For more information on the Interior building, its art and the artists, see Look and Perrault 1986 (below – available online). Artworks begin on p. 110.  

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC, by some of the finest American artists of the time.  Maynard Dixon painted "Themes of the Bureau of Indian Affairs: Indian and Soldier" and "Themes of the Bureau of Indian Affairs: Indian and Teacher" in 1939 with funding from the Section of Fine Arts.  Created to honor the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the murals hang in the 4th floor south lobby. The Department of Interior Museum offers regular mural tours; check their website for information and registration.  For more information on the...

This 8' x 12' mural "Map of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign" was painted by Rainey Bennett in 1938, with the help of Federal Art Project funds.

The "Great Men of Medicine" depicted in this New Deal fresco of nine 1' x 1' panels  include Pare (shown in photo), Pasteur, Darwin, Lister, Jenner, Koch, Virchow, Melpighi, and Harvey. The frescoes were painted by Edwin Boyd Johnson in 1938 under the WPA Federal Art Project.  

In 1937, Jefferson League painted five murals for the College of Pharmacy depicting "The Story of Natural Drugs": "Digitalis," "Opium," "Cinchona," "Quinine" and "Coca and Peyote." The murals were funded by the WPA Federal Art Project.