• Michigan State University Museum: Frezell Mural - East Lansing MI
    From the Kresge Art Museum website: "Originally intended for the Bessemer Courthouse boardroom in the Upper Peninsula, Natural Resources of Northern Michigan was given to Frances and Walter M. Berry sometime in the mid 1940s in appreciation for their years of local and statewide community service. The mural hung in the Caspian Community Center where Berry worked before becoming the Director of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration. In 1957, the Berrys donated the mural to the Michigan State University Museum, where it now hangs in the Auditorium on the second floor. Natural Resources of Northern Michigan depicts an amalgamated view of...
  • Michigan State University: Abbot Hall - East Lansing MI
    "The I-shaped plan of Abbot Hall was designed as part of a four-dorm complex for male students, including its partner Mason Hall as well as Synder-Phillips residences. Shared common areas including the kitchen and bakery were originally built to link Abbot to Mason Hall. However, in 1958 renovations to basement corridors were completed to allow residents to walk from one hall to the next. Created as the residential complement to the female dormitories in the West Circle Complex, Abbot Hall is similarly Collegiate Gothic in style. The building, named after Theophilus C. Abbot, the third president of the University, features...
  • Michigan State University: Auditorium - East Lansing MI
    "In 1938 the Public Works Administration allocated more than $500,000 toward the final cost of $1,025,000 for an auditorium to accommodate the academic and cultural activities of the growing MSU student body. Designed by O.J. Munson, the Gothic-inspired pointed arches and lancet windows on the entrance facade, and oak paneling, chandeliers, and white marble flooring of the lobby interior, reflect a desire for an elaborate structure to suit its cultural purpose. The limestone spandrels of the three identical entry portals are decorated with images of comedy, tragedy, musical instruments, and vines. Munson’s building houses two theaters, the large Auditorium at the...
  • Michigan State University: Band Shell (demolished) - East Lansing MI
    "Designed by O. J. Munson and funded by the WPA/ FAP and a gift from the Class of 1937, the Band Shell was located where Bessey Hall now stands (see map). As captured in this 1954 photograph of a performance of the Michigan State College Band, the open-air stage was frequently used for musical performances as well as commencement ceremonies and pep rallies."
  • Michigan State University: Campbell Hall - East Lansing MI
    "Partially funded by the PWA, Campbell Hall is part of a complex of six residence halls originally for women. It was named after Louise H. Campbell, a state home demonstration leader from 1920 to 1930. The Tudor-style design, with its high-pitched gabled roofs, metal casement windows, slate roof, and Renaissance detailing, recalls medieval estates."
  • Michigan State University: Entrance Marker - East Lansing MI
    "Created through the WPA/FAP programs and a gift from the Class of 1938, this limestone marker" at MSU's Abbot Road entrance "welcomes visitors and students to the MSU campus, then known as Michigan State College. The classical column, reinterpreted in the Art Deco style of the 1930s, along with the man, horse and woman with a sheaf of wheat, recall MSU’s agricultural heritage."
  • Michigan State University: Giltner Hall - East Lansing MI
    "In 1938 PWA funds were secured to expand the Veterinary Clinic, erected in 1913 on the southeast corner of Farm Lane and East Circle Drive. Designed by the Bowd-Munson architectural firm, the addition blended well with the Collegiate Gothic style of the existing structure. In 1952, a Veterinary Clinic added, joining the Department of Anatomy and Animal Pathology to form Giltner Hall. This building honors former professor and Dean of Veterinary Medicine, Ward Giltner (1882 – 1950) and houses scientific laboratories and classrooms."
  • Michigan State University: Jenison Fieldhouse - East Lansing MI
    "The estate of alumnus Frederick Cowles Jenison and the PWA funded this building, originally designed to house male athletic activities. Characteristic of early 1940s architecture, the horizontal and vertical elements culminate in a monumental entrance, accentuated by low reliefs. From left to right, these glass-brick limestone reliefs depict basketball, football, and baseball athletes. The main entrance hall is embellished with Art Deco details from the brass and wood staircase railing to the streamlined, geometric lighting in the foyer and main lobby."
  • Michigan State University: Main Library Mural - East Lansing MI
    Michigan State University's main library houses a mural by Henry Bernstein titled "America's First Agricultural College." The work was first created for the then-new East Lansing post office. From the Kresge Art Museum New Deal Walking Tour: "Originally commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts ... for the old East Lansing Post Office on Abbott Road (now Dublin Square Pub), this mural is typical of the emphasis on representational art, scenes of local history, and nostalgia for the disappearing rural life. The Section, however, did not initially approve of Bernstein’s proposals for the mural, which all related to Michigan State University. Although Bernstein...
  • Michigan State University: Music Building - East Lansing MI
    "The hipped roof, limestone trim and simple design of the PWA-funded Music Building complement the Collegiate Gothic and other architectural styles of this historic section of campus. The large, metal-framed windows, however, allude to future stylistic developments. Samuel Cashwan, supervisor of the Michigan Sculpture Program for the WPA, designed the Art Deco limestone reliefs framing the southwest entrance. They depict images of dance and performance, such as children dancing to the beat of drums."
  • Michigan State University: Music Building Reliefs - East Lansing MI
    "Samuel Cashwan, supervisor of the Michigan Sculpture Program for the WPA, designed the Art Deco limestone reliefs framing the southwest entrance. They depict images of dance and performance, such as children dancing to the beat of drums." Also featured on this post are four reliefs, located on the building's southeast corner.
  • Michigan State University: Music Building Sculpture - East Lansing MI
    Samuel Cashwan completed this cast concrete sculpture, entitled "Three Musicians," in 1940, with funding from the WPA Federal Art Program. From the Kresge Art Museum New Deal Walking Tour website: "The Three Musicians is all that remains of a pair of large angular cast-concrete sculptural groupings that flanked the streamlined 1930s MSU Band Shell. The Cubist sculpture, which depicts a bass player, drummer, and saxophonist, was moved to its present site when the band shell was destroyed in 1959." (https://artmuseum.msu.edu/wpa/WPA/pages/music.htm)
  • Michigan State University: Olin Health Center - East Lansing MI
    "This PWA building by architect Ralph R. Calder, built in memory of Richard M. Olin, M.D., was considered “modern in every detail.” Although additions to the building were made in 1956 and 1969, the bulky massing, textural variety, and minimalist limestone trim distinguish this building from others nearby. Samuel Cashwan designed the twelve symbolic reliefs that frame the main entryway. He chose the fitting subject of the healing arts, framing the building’s name with two Greek goddesses of health, Panacea and Hygeia. The two pilasters display themes from modern medicine. On the left, in descending order, they are “Medical Magic,”...
  • Michigan State University: Terra Cotta Sculpture - East Lansing MI
    This glazed terracotta sculpture, titled Children Reading, is located at the Michigan Avenue entrance to Sarah Langdon Williams Hall. "This small yet vibrant glazed terracotta sculpture and fish head fountain spout are part of a garden wall that leads to Sarah Langdon Williams Hall. Completed through the WPA/FAP, the three young girls reading serve as a symbol of education, which is fitting to this once all-female residence hall."
  • Michigan State University: Union Building Addition - East Lansing MI
    "Although the original structure of the MSU Union, built in 1924 by Pond and Pond, was not government sponsored, in 1936 $150,000 was secured in WPA funds to add the east wing. The Michigan architectural firm Bowd-Munson completed this addition."
  • Michigan State University: Union Building Mural - East Lansing MI
    This mural is located on the first floor of the Union Building on the MSU campus. Plaque on site: "During the Great Depression, through President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration program, many artists were commissioned to decorate public buildings. This mural depicting Thomas Edison's workshop was painted by Edgar Yaeger for the Public Lighting Commission building in Detroit. The artist retrieved the mural when the building was razed in 1983 to make room for the Renaissance Center. In 1988 at the age of 84, Mr. Yaeger restored the mural with the assistance of Kat Skotarczyk. Two years later, he donated...
  • Post Office (former) - East Lansing MI
    The historic former post office building in East Lansing, Michigan was constructed with Treasury Department funds. The building, which housed an example of New Deal artwork (since relocated), is now privately owned.