Garfield County Courthouse Murals – Enid OK

Description

This courthouse contains a series of oil murals depicting the region in the 19th century. The murals were painted by Ruth Monro Augur under the auspices of the WPAs Federal Art Program:

“Ruth Munro[sic] Augur, nationally known muralist, was forced on WPA rolls during the Depression because her commissions fell off so badly. She worked for $57.50 a month while painting the murals.

She officially began on Dec. 1, 1935, but a great deal of tedious research was necessary before the artist could begin to apply paint to the canvas. Every detail had to be correct and the artist was handicapped by having to reproduce a land and a people that no longer existed except in history books and the minds of a few old settlers.

She estimated that she spent the equivalent of 15 to 16 months in research before she started painting and total time spent in research and painting was three years.

The murals cover 1,136 square feet. To get some idea of the tremendous amount of labor and materials that were used in painting the murals, Miss Augur used 36 pounds of white paint on the murals and 20 pounds of combined colors.

Another unique and remarkable feature is the oil paints that were used were manufactured from a single chemical base, regardless of color. This was done in order to avoid fading and discoloration of the murals in years to come, and according to Miss Augur, the colors will be as bright 200 years from now as they are today.”   (https://www.visitenid.org)