- City:
- Normal, IL
- Site Type:
- Art Works, Murals
- New Deal Agencies:
- Arts Programs, Treasury Section of Fine Arts (TSFA)
- Artist:
- Albert Pels
Description
The post office contains a 1938 Section of Fine Arts mural by Albert Pels entitled “Development of the State Normal School.”
Normal IL is the home of Illinois State University, formally the Normal School, a school for the education of teachers. The work shows the process of teaching children and adults in reading, mathematics, and music with the student graduating to the right side and assuming work on the far right. The work is partially obscured by construction.
Albert Pels was born in Cincinnati, OH and studied at the Cincinnati Art Academy, the Art Student’s League, Beaux Arts, and the American School. He developed a “sculptural” style in the 40’s. Late in life, he founded an art school in New York City where he died.
Source notes
Park and Markowitz, Democratic Vistas, Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal, 1984.Site originally submitted by Charles Swaney on January 31, 2013.
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