Kansas State University: Hale Library Murals – Manhattan KS

Description

From the Kansas State University website: “David Hicks Overmyer painted the four Historic Farrell Library [now Hale Library] murals in 1934 as part of the federal government’s Public works of Art Project. Each of these murals is 11’ x 14’ and their subjects symbolize the four major academic pursuits of the institution at the time: science and industry, agriculture and animal husbandry, the arts, and home economics.

Overmyer, an illustrator, artist, and muralist, was born in Topeka, Kansas in 1889 and died there in 1973. He has murals in several other Kansas sites including courthouses in Ft. Scott and Norton, Topeka High School, and the State Capital Building.”   (https://www.lib.k-state.edu)

The murals hang in what is now called the Great Room of the Hale Library. They have been recently restored and are now in excellent condition.

Manhattan Mercury, March 8, 1934:

“Four Panels o Wall Paintings to Be in Main Reading Room—CWA Project

Four panels of mural paintings will decorate the south wall of the main reading room in the college library in the near future, Prof. Paul Weigel, head of the department of architecture, announced today. David Overmeier of Topeka, who has been employed under the CWA artists’ project, will do the work, and the cost of materials will be all the expense incurred by the college.

Scaffolding is being constructed now, and the artist will begin work no later than Monday, Professor Weigel said. The paintings, being on the south wall, will benefit from a full north light—each panel will correspond with a large window across the room—and this was termed by Mr. Weigel as an ideal location. They will be done in oil directly on the wall.

Each panel will be 11 feet wide and 16 feet high and will be above the book cases. Places for these paintings were left vacant when the library was built in the hope that murals could some day be added. Two sketches of panels prepared by Mr. Overmeier have been approved by the college, and two others will be submitted soon. Those approved depict agriculture and the arts. One of the others will depict the home and the other science and Industry. They are of the allegorical type in which symbolism is used.”