Ilya Bolotowsky’s oil painting study for the Hall of Sciences mural at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York is today housed in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. It is all that remains of Bolotowsky’s mural commissioned… read more
The New York Times wrote the following in 2003 in a retrospective article of New Jersey-based artist Michael Lenson: “[Mr. Lenson] moved to Newark and applied at the W.P.A. office on Halsey Street … Soon, Mr. Lenson was designing and… read more
This mural “The Harvest” was originally painted for the what was then the Abbeville post office by Louis Raynaud in 1939. Presently, it hangs in the Abbeville Museum downtown. “The Harvest shows men and women harvesting cotton, sugarcane, and muskrat… read more
Artist Seymour Fogel painted two murals, entitled “African Music and European Music” and “Religious and Modern Music”, in the Music Room (Room 327) of the Abraham Lincoln High School in 1936-37. The New York Schools website shows only a portion… read more
“Built in 1938-39, the Ada County Courthouse was constructed as part of the Depression-era Public Works Administration (PWA). Building the courthouse provided jobs not only for construction workers and craftsmen, but also for the artists that embellished it. The Art… read more
The Adams Hall project included a series of murals reflecting different aspects of Oklahoma business life by Craig Sheppard, a fine arts student at the time. The murals “illustrate some of the prominent industries in Oklahoma’s economy, including farming, stock… read more
The abstract mural titled “Art,” by Lloyd Moylan, was funded by the WPA’s Federal Art Project. The medium is tempera on plaster. There were music classes held on the second floor of the ENMU Administration Building, which explains the choice of… read more
“The 12th Chapter of Ecclesiastes” Medium: tempera on plaster The mural occupies a stairwell. All its components cannot be viewed at once. The following text is quoted from an informational postcard handout available on site: In 1937, the Work Projects… read more
The former main entrance on the east side of the Alameda County Courthouse leads to an elegant lobby flanked by stairways and two large murals made of inlaid marble backed with gold and silver leaf. The murals, which measure… read more
Alamo Stadium was built by the WPA in 1940. In 1941 four tile murals, entitled 100 Years of Sports in San Antonio, Texas, 1840-1940, were installed above the main entrance to the stadium; this project was under the auspices of… read more
“Youth and Ambition” by Virginia Pitman, was commissioned by the WPA and presently housed in Laramie, Wyoming’s Albany County Library. “The painting is divided into several sections. One shows men in line to enter a factory. Another depicts scientists in… read more
The mural “Daily Bread” — currently on display at the Algona Public Library — was completed with New Deal funds in 1941. The painting by Francis Robert White, formerly in the Algona Iowa post office, moved to the Algona Public… read more
Ruth Reeves painted this mural, entitled “Student Activities in School,” for the Works Progress Administration (WPA). It was housed at the Andrew Jackson High School in Cambria, Queens, and believed by Living New Deal to be no longer extant.
Ann Rice O’Hanlon’s was commissioned in 1934 through the Treasury Relief Art Project to create a fresco featured in Memorial Hall on the University of Kentucky’s Lexington campus. “The large fresco in the lobby of Memorial Hall depicts scenes from… read more
Charles Kassler painted three lunettes for what was then the Beverly Hills Post Office in 1936: “Post Rider,” “Construction–PWA” and “Air Mail.”
This frieze on the ceilings of the library’s reading rooms depicts “Flowers and Animals” and was funded by the FAP and WPA. The artist is currently unknown to the Living New Deal. The library itself was completed in 1932, but is… read more
With WPA support, Cal Peters painted several murals for the University of Wisconsin-Stout campus, circa 1935-1936. This 7′ x 20′ oil on canvas is entitled “Perrault’s Trading Fort.” It depicts a trading post on Red Cedar River at the future… read more
Completed in 1942, this mural “Apponaug Fishermen” by artist Paul Sample depicts local shellfishers in Apponaug Cove. It resides in the Apponaug Post Office, dedicated in 1940.
Richard Ayer’s bas relief “Nautical Abstractions” is composed of paint on plaster with embedded rope and piping. It is located on the 3rd floor of the Aquatic Park in San Francisco. Ayer also painted the mural “Tugboats” installed on the… read more
This oil-on-plaster “Prismatarium” mural was designed by Hilaire Hilel to give “striking demonstrations on the relationship of color and light.” It covers the walls and ceiling of a circular room on the west side of the building. Originally, the light… read more
This 14′ x 125′ glazed tile “Sea Forms” mural was created by Sargent Johnson in 1939 with the help of FAP funds. The east end is incomplete because of artist protests over plans for a private restaurant on the site…. read more
David M. Hartz, superintendent of Arlington’s schools, requested from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a mural of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox to adorn the walls of Arlington High School as a memorial of the folkloric past of… read more
H. Louis Freund painted this 13′ x 4’8″ oil on canvas mural “Early Days and First Post Office in Pocahontas” in 1939 for the Treasury Section of Fine Arts for the post office in Pocahontas. After years of damage, it… read more
Arnold Friedman painted this oil on canvas mural, entitled “Environs of Warrentown,” in 1940 with funds provided by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. It was originally installed in the Warrentown post office but was removed in the early 1980’s… read more
This Treasury Section of Fine Arts mural was painted by William Dean Faussett in tempera on gesso in 1939. From contributor Jimmy Emerson, DVM: “It was originally installed in the Augusta PO but now is in storage in the Augusta… read more
These two oil on canvas murals, entitled “Farm Landscape” and “Point Loma,” were painted by Charles Reiffel on a commission from the WPA Federal Art Project in 1937. They were originally installed at Memorial Junior High School. Each mural measures… read more
Belle Baranceanu was painted two oil on canvas murals at Balboa Park in 1935, paid for with federal funding: “Progress of Man” and “Education and Culture”. She rushed to complete the later for the 1935-1936 California Pacific International Exposition and… read more
The Public Works of Art Project funded the painting of the Banning High School Mural in Banning CA. The 65-feet long mural depicts scenes from Banning’s history, showing its farming and mining legacy. The mural is titled “The Drama of Banning” and… read more
A portion of Lynn Fausett’s Barrier Canyon mural hangs in the Prehistoric Museum at Utah State University Eastern. It is part of an enormous, 82-foot canvas painting done by Fausett in 1940 under the auspices of the Works Projects Administration… read more
The largest portion of Lynn Fausett’s WPA-funded Barrier Canyon mural hangs at the back of the entry hall of the University of Utah Museum of Natural History at the eastern flank of the University of Utah campus (a smaller portion… read more
This 7’11” x 11’6″ mural “Characters from Children’s Literature” was painted by Roberta Elvis with WPA Federal Art Project funds.
This building was originally the Textile High School, then the Straubenmuller Textile High School, then the Charles Evans Hughes High School, before eventually assuming its current title as the Bayard Rustin Educational Complex. It is now an NYC “vertical campus”… read more
The historic Baytown Historical Museum building (formerly Federal Building / post office) houses an example of New Deal artwork: “Texas,” a fresco mural by Barse Miller. The mural was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. It was restored… read more
This 1940 oil-on-canvas mural by George Goethke covers all 4 walls of the kindergarten room of Baywood Elementary School (formerly the George Hall School).
The Beach Chalet at the western end of Golden Gate Park, built in 1925, is home to a trove of New Deal artworks in the first floor lobby, or entrance hall. The centerpiece of the Beach Chalet’s artworks is an… read more
The Beach Chalet at the western end of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco contains several New Deal artworks. Lucian Labaudt painted a set of monochrome frescoes around the stairwell and in the corridor to the restrooms on the south… read more
The Federal Art Project (FAP) funded several art works currently located at the Beaumont Library in Beaumont, Calif. The pieces include a mural, a watercolor, and a sculpture created by WPA artists. 1. Watercolor by John Warren. Labeled as FAP on… read more
This oil-on-canvas mural by Grace Greenwood, entitled “The Progress of Power,” was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts and completed in 1940. It is housed in the Beech River Heritage Museum, which is the former post office.
