Alaska Snowshoe Mail Carrier” sculpture, Clinton Federal Building, Washington, DC
Description
Chaim Gross was commissioned by the New Deal’s Treasury Section of Fine Arts to create the sculpture “Alaska Snowshoe Mail Carrier.” It is made out of an aluminum alloy, and Gross was paid $3,000 for the job. When this artwork was created, the present-day Clinton Federal Building was the headquarters of the U.S. Post Office Department.
The Treasury Section of Fine Arts existed from 1934 to 1943. It was initially called the “Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture”; then the “Treasury Section of Fine Arts”; and finally just “Section of Fine Arts” when it was moved under the jurisdiction of the newly-created Public Buildings Administration (PBA) in 1939 (the PBA itself was a subdivision of the Federal Works Agency). The Section adorned many post offices and other federal buildings with murals, sculptures, carvings, and reliefs.
Source notes
Final Report, Section of Fine Arts, Public Buildings Administration, October 16, 1934 to July 15, 1943, p. 5.
“Alaska Snowshoe Mail Carrier,” General Services Administration (accessed September 26, 2020).
Project originally submitted by Brent McKee on October 6, 2020.
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