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  • Alexander Hamilton High School Sculpture - Los Angeles CA
    In 1941, an unknown artist created a marble sculpture of Alexander Hamilton for Hamilton High School in Los Angeles, CA. Completed under the auspices of the Work Projects Administration Arts Project (WPAAP), the 6 foot 10 inch high sculpture depicts a young Alexander Hamilton dressed in knee breeches, a vest and a long coat. It is located in the main entrance foyer.
  • American Island Animal Sculptures - Chamberlain SD
    WPA-funded animal sculptures have been moved from the CCC camp on American Island to Main Street in Chamberlain. A squirrel and coyote were placed outside the Chamberlain Swimming Pool, and two eagles sit on either side of the Avenue of Flags where it intersects Main St. Godakota.com and americanislanddays.com make this note about the camp and sculptures: "There was a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp located on American Island near Chamberlain, South Dakota. The camp workers were responsible for many of the improvements on the island and around Chamberlain in the 1930s and 40s. A photo taken by Orrion Barger seen in...
  • AMHA: Judy Zemnick Sculptures - Akron OH
    New Deal Daily, July 3, 2018: "While in the WPA, Zemnick created several sculptures highlighting the transportation history of Ohio. The pieces were created ca. 1935-1939. They are now incorporated into a multi-panel history display at the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority (AMHA)." The squirrel sculpture pictured below was also Zemnick's creation, made during her employment with the WPA. However, it is not known if Zemnick made the full-size sculpture(s), or just the model to be used in creating the full-size sculpture(s).
  • Beach Chalet: Staircase Sculptures - San Francisco CA
    Michael von Meyer created the enameled, magnolia wood carvings, called "Sea Creatures," in the balustrade of the south stairway of the Beach Chalet.  The carvings are 36" high and run all the way up to the second floor, about 25 feet in all.  It is a marvelous fantasy piece that includes an octopus, mermaid with child, merman (Neptune?), porpoise, fish with elephantine trunk, sailing ship and a deep-sea diver, among others. All the Beach Chalet artworks were done by unemployed artists hired by the Federal Art Project (FAP), a branch of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). 
  • Belmont High School: Herron Sculpture – Los Angeles CA
    Artist Jason Herron sculpted "Modern Youth" for Belmont Senior High School in Los Angeles, CA, with Federal Arts Project (FAP) funds. Originally located on the school's front lawn and currently found in the entryway, the sculpture "represents the scholastic interests as well as the athletic accomplishments of young people today" (Wells, p. 25). It depicts a boy with a book in his right hand and a globe against his left hip. He sits on a two-tiered base with the inscription "WPA/Federal Art Project/1937." According to a 1937 article in the Los Angeles School Journal, "Jason Herron is a young lady whose art...
  • Board of Water and Light Dye Conditioning Plant: Calder Fountain - Lansing MI
    The Board of Water and Light Dye Conditioning Plant in Lansing, Michigan contains multiple examples of New Deal artwork, including a ceramic fountain in the building's main lobby. "The grand two-story lobby of the Board of Water and Light houses a ceramic fountain by Clivia Calder. This sculptural group shows two girls grooming themselves. The flanking stairs with streamlined metal railings are graceful interpretations of machines, also found elsewhere in the plant."
  • Bronx River Soldier Restoration - Bronx NY
    During the last decade of the 1800s, John Grignola carved this granite statue of a Civil War Union soldier for Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. After years of neglect, WPA workers located the statue in the Bronx River, refurbished it, and moved it to another Bronx River location. According to New York City's Department of Parks & Recreation, the statue never made it into the Woodlawn Cemetery, either because it was damaged or because it was rejected by the cemetery. John B. Lazzari, owner of "a local tombstone quarry and monuments yard,"  purchased the statue and displayed "..it on his property on the west...
  • Bryant Park: Dodge Sculpture Restoration - New York NY
    "This bronze sculpture depicts William Earl Dodge (1805–1883), one of the founders of Phelps, Dodge, a leading mining company. Dodge helped organize the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) in the United States and served as the president of the National Temperance Society from 1865 to 1883. John Quincy Adams Ward (1830–1910) sculpted the piece, which was donated by a committee of Dodge’s friends and acquaintances and dedicated October 22, 1885. Dodge is represented leaning on a podium while delivering a speech. The piece originally stood in Herald Square on a pedestal designed by Richard Morris Hunt (who designed the pedestal for...
  • Bryant Park: Shaw Lowell Fountain Restoration - New York NY
    The NYC Parks Department website explains that: "Architect Charles A. Platt (1861–1933) designed this elegant black granite ornamental fountain to commemorate social worker and reformer Josephine Shaw Lowell (1843–1905). Shaw, who is said to be the first woman to be honored by a major monument in New York City, was the first female member of the New York State Board of Charities, serving from 1876 to 1889. The Memorial Committee that worked to build the fountain originally wanted it placed in Corlear’s Hook Park on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, near where Shaw focused her energies. Instead, the fountain, with its 32-foot-wide...
  • Byron White U.S. Courthouse Sculptures - Denver CO
    Gladys Caldwell Fisher completed these two Indiana limestone sculptures, entitled "Rocky Mountain Sheep" and "White Ram," in 1936 with funds provided by the Treasury Relief Art Project. They are viewable on both sides of the entrance to the Byron White US Courthouse, which was originally the U.S. Post Office Building.  
  • Carl Schurz Memorial Restoration - New York NY
    The NYC Parks Department website explains: "This impressive monument to soldier, statesman and journalist Carl Schurz is the result of a collaboration between the distinguished sculptor Karl Bitter (1867–1915) and renowned architect Henry Bacon (1866–1924). Built in 1913, the monument consists of a full standing bronze portrait of Schurz in the center of a granite exedra (curved bench) with carved reliefs framed by two ornamental bronze luminaries. The entire monument is located within a large brick-paved plaza projecting from the promontory at Morningside Drive and West 116th Street. Other studio assistants and associates of Bitter may have worked on the side...
  • Carmel Firehouse: Copper Repousee Light Fixtures - Carmel CA
    These two elaborate hanging light fixtures supply primary lighting to the large meeting room on the second floor of the Carmel firehouse, a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project.  They were produced separately by Otto Koehler as a project of the Monterey WPA's Federal Art Project (FAP). We believe they were hung as the building was completed in 1937. The light fixtures have a hexagonal shape, copper sides and top with a high relief of leaves. A white glass filters light to the floor.
  • Carrie Tingley Home for Crippled Children - Turtle Fountain Sculpture - Truth or Consequences NM
    This building was repurposed in the 1980s as the New Mexico Veterans Center. Medium: terra cotta
  • Carroll Park Playground Sculpture - Oak Park IL
    The stone sculpture at this site, entitled "Alice in Wonderland," was likely made by Emmanuel Viviano with WPA Federal Art Project funding. Based on this post from 2009 0n the MIR Appraisal Services blog, the sculpture may have been relocated: Last Sunday, I attempted an “Emmanuel Viviano/ WPA Field Trip” all about Chicago—I wanted to scout out the Viviano public art in our city and report back to you. Sadly, I couldn’t locate any of his works… from the Carroll Playground in Oak Park (which once featured a statue and fountain of Alice), to the Nancy Hill School in Aurora (once...
  • Cayuga Medical Center Sculptures - Ithaca NY
    The Cayuga Medical Center is home to eight sculptures, completed by six Works Progress Administration (WPA) artists in the late 1930s. The sculptures are between two and three feet tall and depict animals. They were originally installed at the children's playground at the Herman M. Biggs Memorial Hospital, north of the current Cayuga Medical Center. The sculptures were recently cleaned and restored under conservator Kasia Maroney.    
  • Central Park Zoo - New York NY
    The Central Park Zoo was built over the course of eight months in 1934 by workers employed by the Civil Works Administration and, after that program’s demise, by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration. It succeeded the old Central Park Menagerie, a once popular attraction that by the early 1930s was so severely dilapidated that Parks Department officials feared its lions and tigers would break out of the rotted wood structures that housed them. Newly-appointed Parks Commissioner Robert Moses set about replacing the menagerie, not with a full-sized zoo, but with what he called a “picture-book zoo”—a smaller-scale facility meant as...
  • Central Park: Alice-in-Wonderland Sculpture - New York NY
    Works Progress Administration (WPA) artist Frederick George Richard Roth, who worked for the WPA as head sculptor at the Parks Department, and who also created several other sculptures in Central Park including the Dancing Goat, the Dancing Bear, and Mother Goose, plus the animal friezes at the Central Park Zoo, created this Alice-in-Wonderland themed sculpture commemorating Sophie Loeb (1876-1926). Sophie Loeb was a writer who advocated for children and for playgrounds in Central Park. Mayor LaGuardia and Robert Moses attended unveiling ceremony on October 2, 1936. The statue was originally created for Heckscher Playground, but was later moved to Levin Playground...
  • Central Park: Columbus Monument Restoration - New York NY
    "The Columbus Monument at the south west (main) entrance to Central Park at 59th Street and Central Park West (and Broadway), created by Italian sculptor Gaetano Russo and dedicated in 1882. By the 1930s it was serverely stained by soot, its base was cracked by vibration, and natural veins in the sculpture itself were opened by vibration and weathering. It was cleaned and restored by the New Deal Monument Restoration Project under Karl Gruppe."   (kermitproject.org) As Carol Lowrey explains, “Gruppe was closely involved in the conservation of New York's public sculptures from 1934 to 1937, during which time, under the auspices...
  • Central Park: Heckscher Playground Improvements - New York NY
    After the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was launched in April 1935 (renamed the Work Projects Administration in 1939), it quickly became the main source of relief funds and labor for the NYC Parks Department. Heckscher Playground in Central Park was one of many playgrounds in New York to be renovated or constructed with WPA funding and labor: "Before the New Deal, Heckscher Playground was the only playground in all of Central Park, and prior to 1926 there were no playgrounds at all. In 1935 a plan was announced for the "complete renovation and redevelopment of the area", to include a memorial...
  • Central Park: Maine Monument Restoration - New York NY
    "The Maine Monument at the southwest entrance to Central Park at 59th Street and Central Park West, created by Harold Van Buren Magonigle (architect) and Attilio Piggirilli (sculptor), dedicated in 1913. By the 1930s, fingers and toes of many of the statues around the base had been broken off by vandals, the bronze sword was missing, and the joinery and surface of the marble base were badly stained. In 1934 new fingers and toes and sword were created and affixed and the monument thoroughly cleaned the New Deal Monument Restoration Project under Karl Gruppe."   (kermitproject.org) As Carol Lowrey explains, “Gruppe was...
  • Central Park: Mother Goose Statue - New York NY
    Frederick Roths's Mother Goose Statue at the entrance to Rumsey Playground in Central Park. The 1938 Parks Department press release announced the erection of the statue: "The Department of Parks announces that an interesting statue depicting famed characters of the Mother Goose series of fairy tales, has been erected in the circle at the entrance to the Mary Harriman Rumsey children's playground in Central Park, Manhattan, formerly the site of the old Casino. The statue consists of a large figure of the witch who is astride the goose's back; then on the east and west sides in bas-relief there are figures of...
  • Central Park: Still Hunt Sculpture Restoration - New York NY
    This sculpture of a panther was created by Edward Kemeys in 1885. It was refurbished and remounted in 1937 by WPA workers and continues to be maintained by the Central Park Conservancy today.
  • Chief Johnson Totem Pole - Ketchikan AK
    The Chief Johnson Totem Pole was raised in 1901 and restored by Native carvers enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) between 1939-1941. The carvers trained at the Saxman workshop did the restoration work. The restoration work was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the restoration of totems and Native cultural assets. The original caption for a National Archives image of the Chief Johnson totem reads: “The Chief Johnson” Pole is a fine example of Alaskan Indian totem pole carving. The pole has been restored at the original location, which property has been deeded to the Federal Government...
  • Chief Shakes Historic Site - Wrangell, AK
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) developed the Chief Shakes Historic Site in 1940 on a 0.704 acre tract of land located on Shakes Island in Wrangell Harbor. The park was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the restoration of totems and Native cultural assets. At the center of the park is a 1940 replica of an early 19th Century Tlingit community house. Nine totem poles surround the house—a Sealion Prince, Kadashan Red Snapper, Kadashan Crane, Underwater Grizzly, Three Frogs, Bear Up Mountain, and Sea Serpent. Seven of these totems poles are reproductions of older poles, while two are originals....
  • Chief Shakes Historic Site, Bear Up Mountain Pole - Wrangell AK
    Tlingit craftsmen enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) restored the Bear Up Mountain Pole in 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the restoration of totems and Native cultural assets. Seven of the poles surrounding the Clan House at the Chief Shakes Historic Site are reproductions of older poles, while two are originals. All were carved in 1940 as a Civilian Conservation Corps project. Part of the photographic material published on this page by the Living New Deal was provided by courtesy of Linn A. Forrest (1905-1986), a practicing architect who photographed the totem poles at the time of...
  • Chief Shakes Historic Site, Clan House - Wrangell AK
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) developed the Chief Shakes Historic Site in 1940 on an acre of land located on Shakes Island in Wrangell. The clan house is a 1940 replica of an early 19th Century Tlingit community house. The house is surrounded by nine totem poles and it contains two posts that represent two killer whale fins. A 1970 nomination form for the National Register of Historic Places describes the formal qualities of the structure: “A central square fire pit is the focus of the structure's interior. The fire pit is surrounded by a planked platform that would have...
  • Chief Shakes Historic Site, Kadashan Crane Pole - Wrangell AK
    Tlingit craftsmen enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) restored the Kadashan Crane Pole in 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the restoration of totems and Native cultural assets. Seven of the poles surrounding the Clan House at the Chief Shakes Historic Site are reproductions of older poles, while two are originals. All were carved in 1940 as a Civilian Conservation Corps project. Part of the photographic material published on this page by the Living New Deal was provided by courtesy of Linn A. Forrest (1905-1986), a practicing architect who photographed the totem poles at the time of their...
  • Chief Shakes Historic Site, Kadashan Red Snapper Pole - Wrangell AK
    Tlingit craftsmen enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) restored the Kadashan Red Snapper Pole in 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the restoration of totems and Native cultural assets. Seven of the poles surrounding the Clan House at the Chief Shakes Historic Site are reproductions of older poles, while two are originals. All were carved in 1940 as a Civilian Conservation Corps project. Part of the photographic material published on this page by the Living New Deal was provided by courtesy of Linn A. Forrest (1905-1986), a practicing architect who photographed the totem poles at the time of...
  • Chief Shakes Historic Site, Kicksetti Pole - Wrangell AK
    Tlingit craftsmen enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) restored the Kicksetti Pole in 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the restoration of totems and Native cultural assets. Seven of the poles surrounding the Clan House at the Chief Shakes Historic Site are reproductions of older poles, while two are originals. All were carved in 1940 as a Civilian Conservation Corps project. A small copy of the Kicksetti Pole was sent to President Roosevelt in 1940 by the Tlingit carvers from Wrangell. Harry Corser describes the symbolic meaning of the Kicksetti Totem motifs in his 1910...
  • Chief Shakes Historic Site, Killer Whale Totem - Wrangell AK
    Tlingit craftsmen enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) restored the Killer Whale Totem in 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the restoration of totems and Native cultural assets. Seven of the poles surrounding the Clan House at the Chief Shakes Historic Site are reproductions of older poles, while two are originals. All were carved in 1940 as a Civilian Conservation Corps project. Part of the photographic material published on this page by the Living New Deal was provided by courtesy of Linn A. Forrest (1905-1986), a practicing architect who photographed the totem poles at the time of their restoration,...
  • Chief Shakes Historic Site, Raven Pole - Wrangell AK
    Tlingit craftsmen enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) restored the Raven Pole in 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the restoration of totems and Native cultural assets. Seven of the poles surrounding the Clan House at the Chief Shakes Historic Site are reproductions of older poles, while two are originals. All were carved in 1940 as a Civilian Conservation Corps project. Harry Corser describes the symbolic meaning of the Raven Pole motifs in his 1910 volume, Totem Lore of the Alaska Indians. “The totem is surmounted by the Raven Creator. On the older poles he is...
  • Chief Shakes Historic Site, Sea Lion Prince Pole - Wrangell AK
    Tlingit craftsmen enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) restored the Sea Lion Prince Pole in 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the restoration of totems and Native cultural assets. Seven of the poles surrounding the Clan House at the Chief Shakes Historic Site are reproductions of older poles, while two are originals. All were carved in 1940 as a Civilian Conservation Corps project. Part of the photographic material published on this page by the Living New Deal was provided by courtesy of Linn A. Forrest (1905-1986), a practicing architect who photographed the totem poles at the time of...
  • Chief Shakes Historic Site, Sea Serpent Pole - Wrangell AK
     Tlingit craftsmen enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) restored the Sea Serpent Pole in 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the restoration of totems and Native cultural assets. Seven of the poles surrounding the Clan House at the Chief Shakes Historic Site are reproductions of older poles, while two are originals. All were carved in 1940 as a Civilian Conservation Corps project. Part of the photographic material published on this page by the Living New Deal was provided by courtesy of Linn A. Forrest (1905-1986), a practicing architect who photographed the totem poles at the time of their...
  • Chief Shakes Historic Site, Sun Totem Pole - Wrangell AK
    Tlingit craftsmen enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) restored the Sun Totem Pole in 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the restoration of totems and Native cultural assets. Seven of the poles surrounding the Clan House at the Chief Shakes Historic Site are reproductions of older poles, while two are originals. All were carved in 1940 as a Civilian Conservation Corps project. Part of the photographic material published on this page by the Living New Deal was provided by courtesy of Linn A. Forrest (1905-1986), a practicing architect who photographed the totem poles at the time of their...
  • Chief Shakes Historic Site, Three Frogs Pole - Wrangell AK
    Tlingit craftsmen enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) restored the Three Frogs Pole in 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the restoration of totems and Native cultural assets. Seven of the poles surrounding the Clan House at the Chief Shakes Historic Site are reproductions of older poles, while two are originals. All were carved in 1940 as a Civilian Conservation Corps project. Part of the photographic material published on this page by the Living New Deal was provided by courtesy of Linn A. Forrest (1905-1986), a practicing architect who photographed the totem poles at the time of their...
  • Chief Son-I-Hat's Whale House and Totems Historic District, Back Potlatch Ring Pole - Kasaan AK
    Craftsmen enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps carved a copy of the Back Potlatch Ring Pole. The pole stands 15 feet tall. The flying groundhog was replaced with an eagle in 1939.
  • Chief Son-I-Hat's Whale House and Totems Historic District, Bear Memorial Pole - Kasaan AK
    Craftsmen enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps carved a copy of the Bear Memorial Pole. The pole stands 20 feet tall.
  • Chief Son-I-Hat's Whale House and Totems Historic District, Frog/Two Eagle Memorial Pole - Kasaan AK
    Craftsmen enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps carved a copy of one of two mortuary posts, called Two Eagle Memorial Pole. The pole stands 15’ tall. The original, which has burned, belonged to the Eagle Leg House in Old Kasaan. It featured a frog carved on the front and two eagle figures at the top.
  • Chief Son-I-Hat's Whale House and Totems Historic District, Ha’u Pole - Kasaan AK
    Craftsmen enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps restored the original Ha’u Pole. The Kasaan Haida Heritage Foundation describes the significance of the figures represented on the pole: “Sources recount that a man from the Tlingit village of Kake carved this pole, as the owners were of Tlingit descent on their mother’s side. The pole belonged to the grandfather of Son-I-Hat who actually had the name “East.” The figures on the pole from the top are described as the “father of us all, ”Raven, killer whale, and Raven with a human figure on front, with Root on the bottom." Walter Young worked...
  • Chief Son-I-Hat's Whale House and Totems Historic District, Killer Whale Grave Figure - Kasaan AK
    Craftsmen enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps carved a copy of the Killer Whale Grave Figure. The original, which no longer exists, was located on the roof of a grave house on the beach in Old Kasaan. This is the location in which it was originally photographed, before it was relocated to New Kasaan in 1940.
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