Post Office Sculptures – Berryville AR

Description

“Daniel Olney was commissioned for $750 to create a mural for Berryville, Arkansas on the basis of merit of the model submitted in the Salina, Kansas Competition. The figures were designed for Salina, Kansas, but were transformed into man and woman for Arkansas. Olney specifically created a plow and guitar to show a union of work and play. He encountered some trouble relating the sculpture to the wall, their smaller size, approximately three feet tall, does not entirely cover the space above the postmaster’s door.

In this mural, Rural Arkansas is characterized by the figures of a farmer on the right holding a sheaf of wheat and a fork in his hands. On the left, his wife holds an old butter churn that is so often found beside a stove or next to a woodshed. In the center is a relief of a plow crossed by a guitar, suggesting work and play.”

(uca.edu)