Artist Lucile Ward painted two extensive friezes for the Pasteur School in 1937, with funding from the WPA Federal Art Project. “Numbers” is a 2’6″ high frieze covering four walls of Room 112. “The Alphabet” (4′ high) covers all four… read more
Portage Park is located between West Irving Park Road to the South, West Berteau Avenue to the North, North Long Avenue to the East, and North Central Avenue to the West; it occupies four city blocks and has an area… read more
"…the Point was a part of the famous Daniel Burnham Plan for Chicago of 1909, was developed in the 1920s and landscaped in 1937 as a WPA project by the late Alfred Caldwell… One of its major aspects is a… read more
“In 1934, Ravenswood Manor Park became part of the newly-formed Chicago Park District. Using federal relief funds, the park district rehabilitated the park’s landscape, planting hundreds of shrubs and an impressive perennial garden.”
"This is one of the more interesting post-office buildings in which the design avoids tradition. It is fireproof except for the roof, which is slow-burning construction. The exterior walls are a blue-gray brick trimmed with Indiana limestone and the spandrels… read more
The two 6′ x 8′ panels of this mural “Discovery of America” by Irene Bianucci. They were completed with WPA Federal Art Project funds in 1940 and restored in 1997.
The five panels of this mural depicting the “History of Chicago” are titled: “Father Marquette,” “Fort Dearborn,” “Great Chicago Fire of 1871,” “World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893,” and “Century of Progress World’s Fair of 1933.” They were painted by Lucile… read more
George Melville Smith painted two 9′ x 9′ murals for the Schubert School: “The Life of Franz Schubert” and “The Hurricane.” They were painted in 1938 with WPA Federal Art Project funds.
The South Side Community Art Center (SSCAC) located at 3831 South Michigan Avenue on the South Side of Chicago, provided a permanent space for the creation and preservation of artwork made by African American artists from the surrounding community. The… read more
The State Street subway line was one of two initial subway lines to open in the city of Chicago, IL. Running from north to south, the project began in conjunction with the construction of the Milwaukee-Dearborn subway line and was… read more
The bridge carrying S. Torrance Avenue across the Calumet River constructed as a Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) project. Completed in 1936, the “vertical lift bridge is the only non-bascule bridge built by the Chicago Public Works Department (now CDOT). The… read more
“The last of three Public Works Administration projects commissioned in Chicago as part of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, Trumbull Park Homes is arguably one of the CHA’s most historically significant buildings in its housing portfolio. Built in 1938, the development… read more
This 8′ x 12′ mural “Map of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign” was painted by Rainey Bennett in 1938, with the help of Federal Art Project funds.
These two limestone sculptures “Asclepius” and “Hygeia” were created by Edouard Chassaing in 1938 with the help of WPA Federal Art Project funds.
This mural of oil washes and casein tempera on multiple glass panes depicts “The History of Anatomy.” It was painted by artists Rainey Bennett and Ralph Graham with the help of Federal Art Project funds in 1938. It was restored… read more
The “Great Men of Medicine” depicted in this New Deal fresco of nine 1′ x 1′ panels include Pare (shown in photo), Pasteur, Darwin, Lister, Jenner, Koch, Virchow, Melpighi, and Harvey. The frescoes were painted by Edwin Boyd Johnson in… read more
This mosaic mural “Signs of the Zodiac and Heavenly Bodies” was created by John Stephan in 1936 with the help of WPA Federal Art Project funds.
This 3’6″ x 5′ sculpture entitled the “Spirit of Medicine Warding Off Disease” was created with Federal Art Project funds and has been relocated multiple times.
In 1937, Jefferson League painted five murals for the College of Pharmacy depicting “The Story of Natural Drugs”: “Digitalis,” “Opium,” “Cinchona,” “Quinine” and “Coca and Peyote.” The murals were funded by the WPA Federal Art Project.
This PWA building was originally the Dental College Building for the University of Illinois – Chicago. It was project #1057. Construction of the Dental Building began in 1935 when the project was proposed and backed by the PWA under Illinois… read more
The historic Uptown Station post office in Chicago, Illinois was constructed in 1939 with federal Treasury Department funds. The building is still in service and houses an example of New Deal artwork.
The Uptown Post Office Murals “Carl Sandburg and Louis Sullivan” were WPA New Deal Art Projects completed in 1943 by Henry Varnum Poor. These are significant murals created by the WPA which celebrates both agriculture and poetry (Uptown PO Chicago)…. read more
Henry Simon painted a series of murals entitled “The Founding of McKendree College, Lebanon, Illinois.” The murals were intended for that institution but never installed. “The Circuit Rider,” “Bishop McKendree at the Site of the College” and “Peter Aker’s Prophecy”… read more
This three-part mural “American Youth” by Florian Durzynski was completed with WPA Federal Art Project funds in 1937 and restored in 1999.
The West Pullman School was established in the late 19th century. During the 1930s, the WPA funded two murals for the school auditorium. The roughly 5′ x 10′ oil on canvas murals, by Ralph Christian Henriksen, are entitled “American Educational… read more
A Public Works Administration grant, along with local tax revenues, funded the construction of Sherman Elementary School at West 51st Place and South Morgan Street in Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood. It replaced the former Sherman School, built in… read more