Post Office Mural – Dardanelle AR

Description

This Section-funded 4.5′ x 12′ oil on canvas mural entitled “Cotton Growing, Manufacture and Export” was painted for the Dardanelle post office by Ludwig Mactarian in 1939.

“Ludwig Mactarian was commissioned for $660 to create a mural for Dardanelle, Arkansas on the basis of merit of the design in the San Antonio, Texas Competition. Mactarian was unable to visit Dardanelle due to financial restrictions. He thus relied on images he found in the New York Public Library and on correspondence with Dardanelle.s postmaster, Joe D. Gault. From these sources, Mactarian was able to compose a mural that portrayed the importance of cotton within the Dardanelle community.

The central theme of the mural is a cotton field where men are busily picking and a man with a huge basket on his shoulder is taking the cotton to be weighed. In the far background are a train and a truck which will transport the cotton to the factories where it will be woven into cloth. At the left is an indoor factory scene and at the right baled cotton is being loaded onto a ship for transportation throughout the world.”

(uca.edu)