- City:
- Santa Monica, CA
- Site Type:
- Art Works, Murals, Mosaics
- New Deal Agencies:
- Federal Arts Project (FAP), Arts Programs
- Started:
- 1938
- Completed:
- 1939
- Artist:
- Stanton Macdonald-Wright
- Quality of Information:
- Good
- Marked:
- Unknown
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
Artist Stanton Macdonald-Wright designed two murals for Barnum Hall Theater at Santa Monica High School. The works were funded by the Federal Arts Project (FAP).
In 1938, Macdonald-Wright completed a mural titled “Entrance of the Gods into Valhalla” upon Barnum Hall’s asbestos stage curtain. The following year, he completed an 8×8-foot mosaic titled “Landing of the Vikings in Vinland” in the theater’s foyer.
Macdonald-Wright was supervisor for the Southern California division of the FAP from 1935 to 1943. He is considered “an important proponent of the nonrepresentational styles of art on the New Deal projects” (Kalfatovic, p. 370). His other New Deal–funded works in the region include murals at the Public Library and City Hall in Santa Monica, mosaics at Edison Middle School and Hooper Avenue School in Los Angeles, and mosaics at the Community Center in South Gate.
Source notes
Originally posted in the New Deal Art Registry
Historic Resources Group (HRG), Santa Monica High School Campus Plan: Historic Resources Technical Report, July 2018.
Kalfatovic, Martin R. The New Deal Fine Arts Projects: A Bibliography, 1933-1992. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1994.
At this Location:
- Santa Monica High School - Santa Monica CA
- Santa Monica High School: Barnum Hall Theater - Santa Monica CA
- Santa Monica High School: Palo-Kangas Sculpture - Santa Monica CA
- Santa Monica High School: Buff Mural - Santa Monica CA
- Santa Monica High School: Hrdy Bas Relief - Santa Monica CA
- Santa Monica High School: Clements Mosaic - Santa Monica CA
- Santa Monica High School: Library Bas Relief - Santa Monica CA
View all sites at Santa Monica High School - Santa Monica CA (8 Sites)
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