Post Office Mural – Geneva NE

Description

The oil-on-canvas mural entitled “Building a Sod House” was painted by Edward Chavez in 1941.

“As an artist worked through the assignment, from choice of subject to finished mural, pressure was exerted from many sources. Local groups might suggest a particular theme from the area’s history or from local industry, while Section personnel would favor realism over abstraction. Townspeople often expressed their opinions on the details fo the mural design through the editorial page of the town’s newspaper. In fact, Geneva residents complained that Edward Chavez’s sod house builders are “Chicano, but no Mexicans ever lived here!” Even so, Edward Chavez’s work was a favorite with the Section.”
(https://communitydisc.westside66.org)