- City:
- Long Beach, CA
- Site Type:
- Murals, Art Works
- New Deal Agencies:
- Federal Arts Project (FAP), Arts Programs
- Completed:
- 1937
- Artist:
- P. G. Napolitano
- Quality of Information:
- Moderate
- Marked:
- Unknown
- Site Survival:
- Unknown
Description
P. G. Napolitano painted a mural for Washington Middle School in Long Beach, CA. The mural, located in the school’s science building, received funding from the Federal Arts Project (FAP).
“Mr. Napolitano’s main interest has always been in murals, which he executes in tempra (egg white), in frescoes, and in Sgraffito [a technique by which a picture is created by scraping through top coats of colored mortars while still fresh, revealing underneath the color desired] which he introduced here in creative work. Much of his work is marked by the omission of pretty detail and mere decorativeness until only the essential stand out; economy of line, rhythm, and strength are the three uppermost qualities” (Wells, p. 22).
Napolitano’s other FAP murals in the region are located at John Marshall High School and Thomas Starr King Middle School in Los Angeles, CA, and at Beverly Hills High School in Beverly Hills, CA.
Source notes
Wells, N. W. “Federal Art Project and the Schools.” Los Angeles School Journal XX, no. 29 (April 26, 1937): 17–25.
"Mural Decorations - Completed and in Progress - by Federal Art Project in Northern Southern California (April 1, 1937)," Marjery Hoffman Smith AAA Reel, www.wpamurals.org/CA37art.pdf
Site originally submitted by Natalie McDonald on March 2, 2023.
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