• Burbank High School - Burbank CA
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) partially demolished and rebuilt Burbank High School in Burbank, CA, which had suffered damage in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake.
  • City Attorney's Office Mural - Burbank CA
    Between 1942 and 1943, Bartholomew de Mako created the mural "Justice" for Burbank City Hall under the auspices of the Works Projects Administration (WPA) Art Program. The mural is now displayed in the lobby of the City Attorney's Office. "Set against the background of the capitol in Washington D.C., we see justice holding the scales in her left hand and an American flag in the right. Beneath her are six figures representing the diverse group of citizens who benefit from our impartial system of jurisprudence. Recently restored, the brilliant pallette jumps off the canvas. Burbank officials are to be commended for...
  • City Hall - Burbank CA
    The Works Projects Administration (WPA) funded the construction of City Hall in Burbank, CA. Completed in 1943, the Moderne-style, reinforced concrete building was designed by architects William Allen and George Lutzi. "Outside, ornate sculpted panels depicting themes of peace, social order and technological progress soften the utilitarian concrete walls of two-story wings flanking a tower. Brass handrailings draw visitors up the steps and into an airy rotunda, brightly illuminated through a cast-concrete grill that forms a decorative facade for the tower. Inside, sound bounces readily across the marble floors and walls, but visitors talk and tread softly, as if in...
  • City Hall: Ballin Murals - Burbank CA
    Artist Hugo Ballin painted two murals for City Hall in Burbank, CA. Ballin likely received some funding from the Works Projects Administration (WPA) Art Project prior to its termination in 1943. Both murals were fully restored in 2001. "Burbank Industry" (8' x 24') is located in the City Hall rotunda. It is "a painting with multiple planes that marked the passage of time, each layer representing a phase in Burbank’s transformation from a small community of farmers to a center of film production to the capitol of the aviation industry. Although Burbank’s indigenous and Mexican past is notably absent from Ballin’s...
  • City Hall: Mako Bas Reliefs – Burbank CA
    In 1943, Bartolo Mako sculpted a set of bas reliefs for City Hall in Burbank, CA. Two are located on the building's east and west wings, with another at the Third Street entrance. The project likely received funding from the Works Projects Administration (WPA) Art Project prior to its termination. The untitled panels on the east and west wings represent the body of peace, an eagle, soldiers, and mechanics at work on an airplane. The panel at the Third Street entrance, titled "A Tribute to Craftsmen," features workers in construction, metal working, and the aviation industry. Mako's other FAP works in the...
  • Downtown Post Office - Burbank CA
    The Downtown Post Office in Burbank, CA, was constructed by the Treasury Department between 1937 and 1938. The Mission Revival style Post Office was designed by architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood. "Its Spanish roof and five arches grace the facade that welcomes patrons inside. The suspended lanterns in the porch are reminiscent of a Spanish hacienda that provides beauty as well as shelter. The main entrance’s double doors are handcrafted and trimmed with blue and red. The architectural theme of the building is further carried out in the interior. Masonry floors and tiled walls decorate the public areas and elicit a...
  • Downtown Post Office Mural - Burbank CA
    In 1940, Barse Miller painted a two-panel mural at the Downtown Post Office in Burbank, CA. The project was funded by the Section of Fine Arts (SFA) under the newly-created Public Buildings Administration. "This postal branch is graced by a two-panel mural saluting the city's most famous industries--filmmaking and aeronautics. Titled 'People of Burbank,' the 1940 work by Barse Miller fits in with the building's tile and wrought-iron Spanish mission motif" (Rasmussen, 1993). Barse Miller was a teacher at The ArtCenter School in Los Angeles. His other New Deal–funded works in the region include a set of four frescoes (1936) at George...
  • George Washington Elementary School Renovation - Burbank CA
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) renovated George Washington Elementary School in Burbank, CA, which had suffered damage in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake.