- City:
- Russell, KS
- Site Type:
- Art Works, Murals
- New Deal Agencies:
- Arts Programs, Treasury Section of Fine Arts (TSFA)
- Started:
- 1940
- Completed:
- 1940
- Artist:
- Martyl Schweig
- Quality of Information:
- Very Good
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
The post office contains a Section of Fine Arts oil-on-canvas mural entitled “Wheat Workers” painted in 1940 by Martyl Schweig.
This is a classic regionalist portrayal of wheat workers in the fields during the transition from hand work to a mechanized harvest. The motion and hard work is palpable and in the background are the oil derricks that western Kansas is also known for.
Martyl was born to Aimee Schweig, a well-known artist in St. Louis and one of the organizers of the Ste. Genevieve artist colony that thrived from 1930-1940. Martyl was a prodigy, studying with her mother and the other artists at the colony from an early age, particularly her mentor Joe Jones. The work is highly reminiscent of the work of Jones who did several post office murals, also. She was 22 when she completed this mural.
Source notes
www.wpamurals.orgPark and Markowitz, Democratic Vistas, Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal, 1984. Kerr and Dick, An American Art Colony, The Art and Artists of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, 1930-1940. Originally posted in the New Deal Art Registry
Site originally submitted by Charles Swaney on August 20, 2012.
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