- City:
- Sacramento, CA
- Site Type:
- Art Works, Murals
- New Deal Agencies:
- Arts Programs, Work Relief Programs, Federal Arts Project (FAP), Works Progress Administration (WPA)
- Completed:
- 1937
- Artist:
- Ralph Stackpole
Description
“Importance of Education in Sacramento” by Ralph Stackpole was painted in 1937 with support from the WPA Federal Art Project. The mural is 30′ wide x 10′ high, executed in tempera on wet plaster.
“San Francisco painter and sculptor Ralph Stackpole was among the artists who created on the federal dime. He spent the summer of 1937 painting a mural on plaster in the lobby of the auditorium at Sacramento Junior College, on Freeport Boulevard, since renamed Sacramento City College.
Stackpole’s fresco depicts people engaged in various forms of work, such as designing an airplane and farming.” (https://www.mcclatchydc.com/2009/02/03/61368/senates-stimulus-bill-is-nothing.html#ixzz0rpxez4CQ).
It was restored in the 1980s. Sacramento City College published a booklet called “Ralph Stackpole”s Fresco” by William E. Mahan, that reportedly discusses the creation of the fresco in detail. It is also extensively documented with on-site captions.
Source notes
Text excerpt courtesy of McClatchy: https://www.mcclatchydc.com
Originally posted in the New Deal Art Registry
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