- City:
- Lompoc, CA
- Site Type:
- Parks and Recreation, Art Works, Sculpture and Bas Relief
- New Deal Agencies:
- Arts Programs, Work Relief Programs, Federal Arts Project (FAP), Works Progress Administration (WPA)
- Started:
- 1940
- Completed:
- 1940
- Artists:
- Harold Gebhardt, Harry Hemle
- Quality of Information:
- Very Good
- Marked:
- Unknown
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
As part of the New Deal reconstruction of Mission La Purisima, the Federal Arts Project (FAP) of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was asked to send in professional painters to finish the interior of the buildings.
In 1938, FAP artists were employed in painting the pulpit and railing in the chapel of the padres’ residence building, under the supervision of Douglas Parshall of Santa Barbara (Savage, p. 151).
in 1940, artist Harry Hemle got the job of decorating the interior of the completed church. Hemle painted the walls, alter decorations and pulpit, with the assistance of two Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees working on the mission restoration. The Index of American Art group in Los Angeles had worked out the decorations from paint fragments and archival research (Savage, p. 151).
Sculptor and wood carver Harold Gebhardt, was also brought to the mission in 1940 to recreate the statuary in the church.
Source notes
https://www.newdealartregistry.org/renderartworks/LaPurisimaMissionStateHistoricPark/Lompoc/CA/
https://www.lapurisimamission.org
Christine Savage, New Deal Adobe: The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Reconstruction of Mission La Purísima, 1934-1942. Santa Barbara: Fithian Press, 1991.
Site originally submitted by Richard A Walker on March 16, 2021.
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