Udall Department of the Interior Building: McCosh Murals - Washington DC

State:: WASHINGTON-DC
Site Type:: Art Works, Murals
New Deal Agencies:: Arts Programs, Treasury Section of Fine Arts (TSFA)
Completed:: 1940
Artist:: David McCosh
Quality of Information:: Good
Marked:: Yes
Site Survival:: Extant

Description

The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building contains one of the largest collections of New Deal art in Washington DC, by some of the finest American artists of the time.

David McCosh painted two murals for the National Park Service, both created in 1940 with funding from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts, entitled, “Themes of the National Parks.” One is dominated by a vista of Yosemite with smaller scenes of Carlsbad Caverns, Devils Tower, Crater Lake, and Yellowstone. The other features Bryce Canyon with smaller scenes of Olympic, Sequoia, Mesa Verde, Death Valley, and Rainbow Bridge.

They can be found at the south end of the 3rd floor, south lobby.

The Department of Interior Museum offers regular mural tours; check their website for information and registration.

For more information on the Interior building, its art and the artists, see Look and Perrault 1986 (below – available online). Artworks begin on p. 110.

Source notes

Look, David and Carole Perrault. The Interior Building: Its Architecture and Its Art. Washington DC: US Department of Interior, National Park Service, 1986. pp. 110-172. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015029850214&view=1up&seq=1

Department of the Interior

Site originally submitted by New Deal Art Registry on December 30, 2014.
Additional contributions by Richard A Walker.