Norwalk City Hall: Avison Murals – Norwalk CT

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From the New York Times: “The city of Norwalk, Conn., has one of the nation’s largest surviving collections of W.P.A. murals, thanks to a restoration effort in the 1980s that preserved nearly two dozen in the old Norwalk High School, now City Hall. The rescued artwork is on display there, while other murals decorate Norwalk Community College, the city’s public library and maritime aquarium, and other public places.

Though many of the murals depict scenes from local history, several are more exotic: Five murals by an artist named Arthur G. Hull illustrate imagined scenes from the travels of Marco Polo. The Hull murals are on permanent display in the Norwalk Transit District’s headquarters. A spokesman for the Transit District, Louis Schulman, said the agency ‘persuaded the city to twist our arm to use some federal money to document the city’s mural collection.’ The agency photographed each mural and published a book about the collection several years ago.”   (New York Times, April 19, 2009)

Among the collection are a series of sports-themed murals painted by George Avison with funding from the WPA Federal Art Project. The murals were painted in 1934 and restored circa 1986:

“Hockey”- 4’11” x 2’11”

“In the Clear” – 5′ x 3′ (originally installed in the library of the old Center School as a component of the “Connecticut Yankee” series)

“Basketball” – 4’11” x 2’11”

“Baseball” – 5′ x 3′