Iowa State University Parks Library: Murals - Ames IA

City:: Ames, IA
Site Type:: Art Works, Murals
New Deal Agencies:: Work Relief Programs, Arts Programs, Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), Works Progress Administration (WPA), National Youth Administration (NYA)
Started:: 1934
Completed:: 1936
Artist:: Grant Wood

Description

“The murals in the Grant Wood Heritage Area and on the walls of the staircase leading to the Upper Lobby of the original building are without doubt the major artistic feature of the Iowa State University Library.” These murals by Grant Wood can be divided into two main sets: eight panels of the Other Arts Follow mural were painted under the PWAP in 1934; the three panels referred to as “Breaking the Prairie” were painted two years later under the WPA/NYA.

“The eight panels of the Other Arts Follow mural reflect the divisions of Iowa State College at the time: Veterinary Medicine, Farm Crops, Animal Husbandry, Home Economics, Ceramics and Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Aeronautical and Civil Engineering.”