Fredericktown, MO Post Office Mural "The Lead Belt"
Description
The post office contains a 1939 Section of Fine Arts mural by James Turnbull entitled “The Lead Belt.”
Haunting work showing the juxtaposition of a farmer plowing his field in the wind in the lower right quarter, while the upper half is dominated by a large mine , processing plant and a growing tailings pile that are killing trees at its base and encroaching on the farmer’s field. In the lower left quarter is the lane to the mead mine and severe erosion.
James Turnbull was born in St. Louis in 1909, studied journalism at the Univ. of Missouri, then the School of Fine Arts in St. Louis and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. He lobbied for and was then named the director of the Missouri WPA project, resigning in 4 months to pursue art. He painted 2 murals in Missouri. During WWII, he was a war correspondent for Life magazine and after the war settled in Woodstock, NY.
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"The Lead Belt" detail
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James Turnbull, "The Lead Belt", Artist's signature
Source notes
Park and Markowitz, Democratic Vistas, Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal, 1984.
Project originally submitted by Charles Swaney on June 8, 2013.
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