Post Office Murals – Dubuque IA

Description

“The interior features several important murals in the lobby vestibule. The murals were funded with $2,000 of the original money allotted for construction of the building. Although a competition to select an artist was held, officials intended to select Grant Wood, the famous Iowa painter of “American Gothic,” to complete the murals. When Wood did not enter the competition, William E.L. Bunn was selected. The selection was subsequently overturned in favor of a painter named Bertram Adams. As a compromise, both Bunn and Adams, who each studied and worked with Wood and were friends from the University of Iowa, were allowed to paint murals. Adams painted “Early Settlers of Dubuque” in 1936 and 1937. The painting depicts several symbols of the city’s pioneering days, such as the Julien Dubuque Monument and the Mesquakie Native American village. Adams also represented impending industrialization by painting the Shot Tower and a bridge. Bunn painted “Early Mississippi Packet ‘Dubuque III'” (also referred to as “Early Mississippi Steamboats”) at the same time. His mural illustrates life in Dubuque in 1870, when steamboats were a primary method of transportation in the Midwest. The two murals show a harmony of scale and color use.”