Johnson Organ Screen – San Marino CA

Description

In 1934, with Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) funding, Sargent Johnson created an organ screen for the California School for the Blind in Berkeley. Today, the organ screen—a 22-foot-long redwood relief of musicians, animals, birds, and plants—is located at the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, CA.

Two years after creating the organ screen, Johnson was hired by the Works Progress Administration Federal Arts Project (WPA-FAP) as a senior sculptor; soon he was promoted to unit supervisor. Under the auspices of the FAP, Johnson completed a companion relief for the School for the Blind to be installed above the stage opposite the organ. In addition, Johnson completed a set of six carved lunettes to be mounted in the auditorium’s windows and a relief dedicated to Louis Braille for the school library.

After the California School for the Blind relocated in 1980, the organ screen was misplaced. Over 30 years later, the Huntington acquired and restored the relief. It has been exhibited in the Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American Art since 2013.

Johnson was a sculptor, painter, printmaker, and ceramicist. His other New Deal projects, all located in San Francisco, CA, include a mural and reliefs (1939) at the Maritime Museum and the monumental frieze entitled “Athletics” (1942) at George Washington High School.