Murals Sites

In addition to "Science," a large New Deal mural, ENMU's Golden library is the home of several smaller commissioned ("portable") examples of New Deal paintings, including: Gene Kloss: "Penitente Friday" and "Acoma" Stuart Walker: "Black and White Sawmill" and "Abstract" Cady Wells: "Mesas" (which may not be New Deal-sponsored) Brooks Willis: "Sawmill" According to Flynn, the ENMU’s Department of Music Building had housed these examples of New Deal oil paintings. They, too, were more recently housed at Golden Library. Three oil paintings done around 1934 by Nils Hogner grace the walls of the staff lounge. They are colorful Navajo Indian scenes. We understand that one has disappeared....

The abstract mural titled "Science," by Raymond Jonson, was funded by the WPA's Federal Art Project. It is in ENMU's Golden Library. Nearby, the university's administration building houses this mural's twin, titled "Art". Flynn: They were planned as a pair, with the aim of serving as spiritual stimuli for the students. Regarding these panels, Jonson wrote in 1937: "My desire is to have a fine quality in these works based on, as a starting point, "Art" and "Science." One panel will place the emphasis on Art—the other on Science (note: my aim is to develop a series of rhythms and forms that can function as...

Then known as the Welfare Hospital for Chronic Disease, this hospital on New York's Roosevelt Island opened in 1939. The hospital soon received three rare 7 x 50 foot WPA murals by Ilya Bolotowsky (1907-1981), Joseph Rugolo (1911-1983) and Albert Swinden (1901-1961). "The murals must have caused a sensation in the early 1940s, when they were installed in the patients’ circular day rooms by the federal Work Projects Administration. Not your standard W.P.A. social-realist allegories, these were works of almost pure, jazzlike abstraction, bold fields of color that barely suggested any literal imagery."   (nytimes.com) At some point in the following years, all three...

Four 6' x 10' murals depicting "Earth," "Air," "Water" and "Fire" by Ralf Henricksen were completed in 1936 with funding from the WPA Federal Art Project. They were restored in 2003-2004.  

In 1936, Abram Champanier painted a large, multi-panel mural, entitled "Alice in Wonderland," in the children's ward of the old Gouverneur Hospital on Water Street, with funds provided by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The oil-on-canvas murals were all seven feet high, of varying widths, with subjects such as, "Alice Steps Out of a Book," "Alice Flies Over the East River Bridges" and "Alice and Her Friends in the Subway," with imaginative images in the social-realist style. Unfortunately, "the murals were left behind, exposed to rain and other infelicities, when the hospital was abandoned in 1961. Nearly two decades later, the building was sold, and demolition threatened. On the...

In addition to WPA improvements made around Governors Island, "a mural in the Administration Building, depicting scenes from six American wars, was painted by artists of the Federal Art Project." The Administration Building is better known today as Pershing Hall. The Governors Island Blog states: "Pershing Hall benefited from a FAP commission to Tom Loftin Johnson for murals to adorn its principal hallways. Johnson’s 90 foot mural in Pershing Hall depicts American military history. A close look at these detailed murals reveals many notable national characters, some with particular connections to Governors Island."

"In Silver City, the PWA built Sixth Street School, the old James Stadium at WNMU, and the now-gone Western High School and Hillcrest Hospital buildings. The WPA constructed miles of local sidewalks and also funded the historic murals in the Grant County Courthouse by Theodore Van Soelen." -Silver City Museum "The art deco-style Grant County Courthouse, at the top of Broadway...houses two WPA murals: Chino Mines and The Round Up, both painted by Theodore Van Soelen." -New Mexico Off the Road

Grasslands Hospital (now Westchester Medical Center) in Valhalla, New York received a  New Deal mural, commissioned by the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), in 1934. The status of this work is unknown to Living New Deal.

Gustaf Dahlstrom's panel oil-on-plaster mural "Flora and Fauna," as well two carved wood bas relief sculptures: "Wild Animals" and "Farm Animals" (artist unknown) were each completed in 1938 with funds provided by the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project. The are all viewable in room 106 of the Green Bay Pavilion.  

Florian Durzynski completed this two-panel oil-on-canvas mural, entitled "Westward Movement," with funds provided by the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project (WPA-FAP). It is viewable in the auditorium of Greenman Elementary School.  

Anton Refregier's first mural assignment under the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project (WPA-FAP) in the 1930s was to paint a mural for the children's ward at Greenpoint Hospital in Brooklyn. Joining the WPA rolls allowed him to get off relief. He was paid $23.86 a week and was assisted by five other WPA artists. In an interview conducted for the Archives of American Art Refregier stresses that although he was assigned to be the leader of the mural project, the group decided to undertake the project cooperatively which was more in line with their values. In an interview for...

This 1935 mural by James Daugherty entitled "The Life and Times of General Israel Putnam" was funded by the WPA's Federal Arts Project. The mural is 9 x 22 feet. It was originally painted for the Greenwich Town Hall but moved to the Hamilton Avenue School in 1940. In 1998, the mural was removed from the school and restored. It now hangs in the Greenwich Public Library. "At a time when Americans needed heroes to promote patriotic feelings eroded by the Depression, an authentic folk hero presented a superlative mural subject. Putnam's legendary exploits and courageous actions presented Daugherty with the opportunity...

Grevillea park is graced by an gargantuan mosaic mural, called "History of Transportation."  This extraordinary mural is 8 feet high and 240 feet long, composed of 60 panels. It is made of cast concrete and terrazzo paneled walls.  It is the largest petrachrome mural in the world and one of the last examples of petrachrome mosaic art (that is, made up of tiny stones). The mural was created by artist Helen Lundeberg with the support of the New Deal Federal Art Project in 1939-42.  (The FAP was part of the Works Progress Administration, or WPA). Originally installed in the nearby Centinela Park,...

The historic Gwen B. Giles Station post office—also known as Wellston Station (prior to a Congressional renaming)—in St. Louis, Missouri contains a 1939 Section of Fine Arts mural by Lumen Winter entitled "Old Levee and Market at St. Louis." The mural depicts a view of the St. Louis levee to the right with a steamboat and the market to the left in the background. There are contrasting groupings in the foreground with a family hurrying to get out of the way of the stagecoach which the driver is attempting to slow despite the wildness of the black horse. By contrast, the...

This oil on canvas mural "Early Farmers" by Karl Kelpe, and a companion piece ("Pioneers"), were originally in the main entrance of the old Julian School building. They were painted in 1936 with funding from the WPA Federal Art Project. Size: 16'11" x 8'

This oil on canvas mural, entitled "Child and Sports--Summer" was painted by Ethel Spears in 1937. It is a companion piece to "Child and Sports--Winter" at the Percy Julian Middle School. Both murals were originally installed at the Lowell School. It measures 16'10" by 6'2".

“The third project which Louis Schanker completed while in the Mural Division of the WPA was for the Hall of Medicine and Public Health Building at the New York orld’s Fair (1939-1940). Large sharply angled geometric shapes are the background foil for a variety of organic cell and ameba shapes, an oversized head, and directional symbols such as an arro and dotted lines.” Completed with Abraham Lishinsky.

In 1937, with Federal Art Project (FAP) funding, Charles Hulbert Davis painted a mural, "Drake's Landing in California – 1579," at the Hall of Records in Los Angeles, CA. Davis' mural was located in the Board of Supervisors Hearing Room, alongside FAP murals by Lorser Feitelson, Helen Lundeberg, and Buckley MacGurrin (see linked projects). The Hall of Records, built in 1911, was demolished after the 1971 San Fernando earthquake. The status of all five murals is unknown.

In 1937, with Federal Art Project (FAP) funding, Lorser Feitelson painted an oil-on-canvas mural for the Hall of Records in Los Angeles, CA. Feitelson's mural was located in the Board of Supervisors Hearing Room, alongside FAP murals by Charles H. Davis, Helen Lundeberg, and Buckley MacGurrin (see linked projects). The Hall of Records, built in 1911, was demolished after the 1971 San Fernando earthquake. The status of all five murals is unknown. Feitelson was the FAP's supervisor of murals in Southern California from 1937 to 1943. His other FAP works in the region include a mural at Thomas Alva Edison Middle School in...

In 1937, with Federal Art Project (FAP) funding, Helen Lundeberg painted an oil-on-canvas mural for the Hall of Records in Los Angeles, CA. Lundeberg's mural was located in the Board of Supervisors Hearing Room, alongside FAP murals by Charles H. Davis, Lorser Feitelson, and Buckley MacGurrin (see linked projects). The Hall of Records, built in 1911, was demolished after the 1971 San Fernando earthquake. The status of all five murals is unknown. Lundeberg's other FAP works in the region include a pair of murals, "Quests of Mankind" (1940), at Canoga Park High School in Canoga Park, CA; a pair of murals, "History of...

In 1937, with Federal Art Project (FAP) funding, Buckley MacGurrin painted two oil-on-canvas murals for the Hall of Records in Los Angeles, CA. MacGurrin's murals were located in the Board of Supervisors Hearing Room, alongside FAP murals by Charles H. Davis, Lorser Feitelson, and Helen Lundeberg (see linked projects). The Hall of Records, built in 1911, was demolished after the 1971 San Fernando earthquake. The status of all five murals is unknown. MacGurrin's other FAP works include petrachrome murals, “Santa Paula” and “Youth," at Santa Paula High School in Santa Paula, CA.

Almost fifty years after he painted this mural, Alfred Crimi reflected on its origins and later developments: “Most gratifying was the honor I received from the City of Northampton, Massachusetts, in the fall of 1980. In 1940 I had painted a mural for the Post Office Building in Northampton entitled 'Work, Religion, and Education.' This commission had been awarded through national competition under the auspices of the Section of Painting and Sculpture, Treasury Department, Washington, D.C. Now that the building was sold, the mural was taken down to be rolled up and sent to the Smithsonian Institution where it most likely...

An oil-on-canvas mural entitled "Meeting of the Original Directors of Clemson College" painted in 1941 by John Carroll and originally hung in the Clemson Post Office (now Mell Hall) downtown. It now hangs in Hardin Hall on the Campus of Clemson University.”  (flickr) This mural shows the grim group of men who started Clemson Agricultural College — originally an all-white male military school — now called Clemson University.

Harlem Hospital murals include two 1940 pieces by Charles Alston, "Magic in Medicine" and "Modern Medicine", painted under the auspices of the Federal Arts Project of the WPA in 1936.  As the New York Times notes, "Harlem Hospital’s were perhaps the first major federal government commissions awarded to African-Americans." "Charles Alston's Magic in Medicine is situated opposite his Modern Medicine, offering contrast and dialogue between traditional and modern healing practices. The diptych imagines the history of healing and medicine in Africa and the United States. The sepia-toned Magic in Medicine incorporates a Fang reliquary sculpture, a type of ritual art piece from Gabon that was widely collected by...

Alfred D. Crimi painted this 250-square-foot fresco, entitled Modern Surgery and Anesthesia, in 1940 for the Works Progress Administration (WPA). According to the webpage entry "Harlem Hospital WPA Murals" from Columbia University's Institute for Research in African-American Studies,  "Alfred D. Crimi, the only white person employed as a master artist for the Harlem Hospital murals project, was originally commissioned to paint a series of five fresco panels for the Medical Board Room, but he only completed one before leaving to work on another federally sponsored art project in Washington, D.C. He based the subjects for his series on the history of medicine,...

An eight panel mural by African America artist Vertis C. Hayes, entitled "Pursuit of Happiness," was commissioned for Harlem Hospital Center with funding from the WPA's Federal Arts Project. The mural, which was completed 1937,  "...traces the African diaspora from 18th-century African village life to slavery in America to 20th-century freedom; from agrarian struggles in the South to professional success in the industrialized North." (New York Times). As the New York Times notes, "Harlem Hospital’s were perhaps the first major federal government commissions awarded to African-Americans." This and the other murals, originally in the old hospital and visible only to staff, have been restored for over...

In 1937 Elba Lightfoot completed this mural, entitled "Toy Parade," for the Harlem Hospital Center with funding from the WPA's Federal Arts Program. It was one the first major federal commissions to be awarded to African-Americans. The hospital initially rejected the commission for depicting too much African-American subject matter. The hospital commissioner reversed this decision, however, after public controversy was aroused by protest from the artists and their supporters (New York Times).

Below is a photograph that shows Georgette Seabrooke at work on her mural entitled "Recreation in Harlem" for the nurses' recreation room at Harlem Hospital Center. She made the mural with funding from the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project (WPA/FAP). The WPA commissioned the mural in 1936.  The New York Times notes that, "Harlem Hospital’s were perhaps the first major federal government commissions awarded to African-Americans." “'Recreation in Harlem' depicts children roughhousing, a couple dancing, a group of women chatting." It was rediscovered during hospital renovation in 2004. This and the other murals, originally in the old hospital and visible only to staff, have been restored for over $4...

A 2016 article celebrating Black History Month highlighted this unique and little known WPA mural by artist Aaron Douglas: "The Harlem Branch of the Y.M.C.A., which is located at at 180 West 135th Street, contains an exquisite example (though in need of a thorough restoration) of a rare African-American contribution to the Works Progress Administration (WPA)... While much of the building has been renovated over the years, some of the Y.M.C.A.’s original artwork by Alfred Floegel and noted African-American artists William E. Scott and Aaron Douglas remain. One of the murals was designed by Aaron Douglas, an African-American painter and illustrator whose works appear in...

Originally installed in the Burns post office, this mural was one of the Treasury Section's 48-State Post Office Competition murals. "New Deal mural entitled "Cattle Round-Up" painted by Jack Wilkinson in 1941. When a new post office was built in the early 90's, the mural was moved to the 2nd floor court room in the Harney County Courthouse." (flickr)

Gustaf Dahlstrom painted two 9' x 26' murals for the Laurel School: "Gardening" and "Animals and Flowers." They were completed with WPA Federal Art Project funds in 1938. They were moved to the Harper School from the Laurel School in 1973.

This 22' x 5' mural "Transportation" was painted by William Henning in 1935 with PWAP funds. It was restored in 2011.

This 12'  x 9'11" mural "Harvesting of Grain: Spring and Fall" in Chicago's John Harvard school was painted by Florian Durzynski with WPA Federal Art Project funds in 1939 and restored in 2002. The "Fall" part of this mural set was destroyed. The lunette that was above it, and the lunette about "Spring," survive.

With WPA support, Cal Peters painted several murals for the University of Wisconsin-Stout campus, circa 1935-1936. This mural "Learning, Industry, Skill and Honor" is a 5' x 40' oil on canvas. The central figure appears to be "Wisdom" dispensing the gifts of learning, industry, skill and honor. The mural is hanging in its original installation location: Harvey Hall Grand Staircase, first floor, south entrance, the University of Wisconsin-Stout.

This site originally displayed four oil on canvas murals, entitled "American Characters," painted by Mildred Waltrip in 1938 with funding from the WPA Federal Art Project. Two of the murals were removed in 1995 and placed in storage after a debate over controversial depictions of African-Americans and American Indians. From the Chicago Tribune story on the controversy: Two 1936 murals at an Oak Park elementary school touched off a 90-minute debate at a school board meeting this week, with some parents and educators demanding the murals be removed, while others argued to keep them as a caution against racial stereotyping. Several...

This mural by Rainey Bennett was produced with FAP funds.

This 6'6" x 30' mural was completed with FAP funds in 1936.

According to the book Hawai'i Chronicles II: Contemporary Island History from the Pages of Honolulu Magazine, Juliette May Fraser “was one of four Island artists commissioned to work on WPA art projects for public places. It was during this time that she created a roomful of murals of Hawaiian legends for the Hawaii State Library downtown…When the meager federal funds for the project ran out after three months, she continued to work on the murals for another three months to complete them, working without compensation and even paying for her materials out of her own pocket.” The murals are still on...

This 8.5' x 5' tempera-on-plaster fresco "Community Spirit" was completed in 1935 with New Deal funds (program unknown to the Living New Deal). The mural was painted by Bernard Zakheim with assistance from Joseph Kelly and Phyllis Wrightson.

In 1938 William Karp completed the mural entitled "Armed with Learning and Reality, Looking from the Past to the Future" for the Hebrew Orphan Asylum on Amsterdam Avenue between 136 and 138th Street in New York City. The Hebrew Orphan Asylum closed in 1941, and the building was demolished in the mid 1950s. The Living New Deal needs further information to determine the current status of William Karp's WPA mural for the Hebrew Orphan Asylum. William Karp worked as a master mural artist and administrator with the WPA Federal Art Project. Also included are images of Karp with friends at his home in...