Start Year: 1938

In 1938, artist Belle Baranceanu painted two large (307" by 115") oil on canvas murals, "Building Padre Dam" and "Portola's Northern Expedition," alongside the stage at Roosevelt Junior High (now Roosevelt Middle School) in San Diego for the WPA Curriculum Project. The San Diego Historical Society notes: "For Roosevelt Junior High she was asked to use the theme of the "Four Cornerstones of American Democracy" for which she prepared some working drawings. Finding the concept terribly dull, she switched to historical subjects: Building Padre Dam and Portola's Departure . The murals were removed when the school was remodeled in the 1970s. They...