Commonwealth Post Office Mural – Fullerton CA

Description

The oil-on-canvas mural Orange Pickers by Paul Julian is the only Works Progress Administration (WPA) post office mural in Orange County. It was painted in 1941 or 1942 at the Federal Arts Studio in Los Angeles and then installed in the lobby of the post office in 1942. 

The 6 foot by 13 foot mural depicts images of Fullerton industries including citrus, oil and aviation. The style of the mural is known as regionalism which was very popular during this time period.

This mural was Julian’s last public arts project. Julian then went on to have a successful career in the film industry as a cartoonist and voice actor (He was the Roadrunner voice artist for Warner Brothers). 

The mural still resides in the post office – now known as the Commonwealth Post Office in Fullerton, California.

A document now on the wall below the mural reads:
“The noted California painter Paul Julian painted the large mural on display in the old Fullerton post office. Julian was born in 1914 in Santa Barbara, California. He trained with Millard Sheets and Lawrence T. Murphy at the Chouinard Art Insititute. The mural was commissioned by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The WPA program began in 1933 at the suggestion of George Biddle, an artist who had studied with Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. Biddle persuaded President Franklin Roosevelt to institute a program similar to one the Mexican government created, to decorate government buildings. This effort sparked an artistic revolution. The program provided needy artists with work and money. This also offered artists a range of creative options, from small paintings to large murals.

This mural depicts life in Fullerton in the mid-thirties. Fullerton High students picking Valencia oranges, oil derricks, and the Fullerton airport. The artistic license taken by Paul Julian has created some controversy because the ladder shown, a three-legged type, is not the right type for picking oranges, and oranges were never packed in boxes in the field. They would have been placed into a large over the shoulder bag while being picked and then carried to the boxes, and commingled with the others.”
– https://www.cartoonbrew.com/old-brew/paul-julian-mural.html