Post Office (former) Mural – Siloam Springs AR

Description

The Section of Fine Arts-funded oil-on-canvas mural “Lumbering in Arkansas” was painted for the Siloam Springs post office by Bertrand R. Adams in 1940.

“Bertrand Adams was commissioned for $600 to create a mural for Siloam Springs, Arkansas as a result of competent work submitted in the Dubuque, Iowa, Section of Fine Arts competition. He had a significant amount of trouble determining his subject matter and the Section critiqued his style and subject more than any other artist that created a mural for Arkansas. Adams, discouraged by these dilemmas, decided to resign from the commission, but was convinced by Rowan to reconsider.

The mural depicts the four principal economic activities of Arkansas: lumbering, mining, agriculture, and manufacturing. In the center of the mural is a saw mill, used to cut gathered lumber. To the left is a zinc mine with ashen gray domes of extracted ore and residue. In the foreground are farmers with a load of hay pulled by mules. Finally, the building to the right of the saw mill is a cotton ginning mill, a manufacturing plant.”

(uca.edu)

The former post office is now the Phat Tire Bike Shop.