United States post office murals are notable examples of

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...

art produced during the years 1934–1943. They were commissioned through a competitive process by the United States Department of the Treasury. Some 1,400

murals A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanish ...

were created for federal post office buildings in more than 1,300 U.S. cities. Murals still extant are the subject of efforts by the U.S. Postal Service to preserve and protect them. In 2019, the USPS issued a sheet of 10

Forever stamps Non-denominated postage is postage intended to meet a certain postage rate that retains full validity for that intended postage rate even after the rate is increased. It does not show a monetary value, or Denomination (postage stamp), denominatio ...

commemorating the murals.

History

As one of the projects in the

during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

in the United States, the Public Works of Art Project (1933–1934) was developed to bring artist workers back into the job market and assure the American public that better financial times were on the way. In 1933, nearly $145 million in public funds was appropriated for the construction of federal buildings, such as

courthouse A courthouse or court house is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English-spe ...

s, schools, libraries, post offices and other public structures, nationwide. Under the direction of the Public Works of Art Project, the agency oversaw the production of 15,660 works of art by 3,750 artists. These included 700 murals on public display. With the ending of the Public Works of Art Project in the summer of 1934, it was decided that the success of the program should be extended by founding the Section of Painting and Sculpture (renamed the Section of Fine Arts in 1938) under the U.S. Treasury Department, through Treasury Secretary

Morgenthau Morgenthau is a German surname meaning "morning dew". Notable people with the surname include: *Elinor Morgenthau (1891–1949), American Democratic party activist *Hans Morgenthau (1904–1980), German-born international relations theorist * Henry ...

's executive order of October 14, 1934. The Section of Painting and Sculpture was initiated to commission 1,400 murals in federal post offices buildings in more than 1,300 cities across America. The Section focused on reaching as many American citizens as possible. Since the local post office seemed to be the most frequented government building by the public, the Section requested that the murals, approximately oil paintings on canvas, be placed on the walls of the newly constructed post offices exclusively. It was recommended that 1% of the money budgeted for each post office be set aside for the creation of the murals. The Treasury Relief Art Project (1935–1938), which provided artistic decoration for existing Federal buildings, produced a smaller number of post office murals. TRAP was established with funds from the Works Progress Administration. The Section supervised the creative output of TRAP, and selected a master artist for each project. Assistants were then chosen by the artist from the rolls of the WPA Federal Art Project. The Section and the Treasury Relief Art Project were overseen by Edward Bruce, who had directed the Public Works of Art Project. They were commission-driven public work programs that employed artists to beautify American government buildings, strictly on the basis of quality. This contrasts with the work-relief mission of the Federal Art Project (1935–1943) of the Works Progress Administration, the largest of the New Deal art projects. So great was its scope and cultural impact that the term "WPA" is often mistakenly used to describe all New Deal art, including the U.S. post office murals. " New Deal artwork" is a more accurate term to describe the works of art created under the federal art programs of that period. The murals are the subject of efforts by the U.S. Postal Service to preserve and protect them. This is particularly important and problematical as some of them have disappeared or deteriorated. Some are installed in buildings that are worth far less than the artwork.

Process

Whereas the Public Works of Art Project paid artists hourly wages, the Section of Fine Arts program awarded contracts to artists based on works entered in both regional and national competitions. For this purpose, the country was divided into 16 regions. Artists submitted sketches anonymously to a committee of their peers for judging. The committees, composed of

art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...

s, fellow artists and architects, selected the finest works. These were then sent, along with the artists' names in sealed envelopes, to the Section of Fine Arts for ultimate selection. This anonymity was to ensure that all competing artists had an equal opportunity of winning a commission. However, many local painters felt they were being kept out of the process, with the majority of contracts going to the better known artists. Artists were asked to paint in an "American scene" style, depicting ordinary citizens in a realistic manner.

Abstract art Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th ...

modern art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradi ...

, social realism, and

allegory As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...

were discouraged. Artists were also encouraged to produce works that would be appropriate to the communities where they were to be located and to avoid controversial subjects. Projects were closely scrutinized by the Section for style and content, and artists were paid only after each stage in the creative process was approved.

Controversies

The selection of out-of-state artists sometimes caused controversy, such as

stereotype In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example ...

s of rural people being portrayed merely as hicks and hayseeds and not having the murals express their cultural values and work ethics. Many residents of small towns, most notably in the Southern states, resented the portrayal of rural lifestyles by artists who had never visited the areas where their artwork would be displayed. The controversy was of particularly acute in Arkansas, where 19 post offices received murals, with two post offices, one in Berryville, Carroll County and another in Monticello,

Drew County Drew County is a county located in the southeast region of the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 18,509, making it the 39th most populous of Arkansas's 75 counties. The county seat and largest city is Monticello. ...

, receiving sculpture. For seven decades following the Civil War, Arkansas had been perceived as the epitome of

poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...

and illiteracy by the rest of the nation. Many Arkansans had dealt with hardship and tribulation on a daily basis and the coming of the Depression had not made life easier. Although the sketches of such renowned artists as Thomas Hart Benton and

Joseph P. Vorst Joseph Paul Vorst (June 19, 1897 – October 15, 1947) was a German-American visual artist. Biography Vorst was born June 19, 1897, in Essen, Germany. He studied at the Folkwang Schule in Hagen before serving in World War I, from which he r ...

were based on actual events and people encountered during their travels across the state, they sometimes focused on the worst aspects of life in these rural towns. This was not the legacy that Arkansans wished to leave their children and grandchildren. They wanted the murals to give hope to the younger generation in overcoming

adversity Stress, either physiological, biological or psychological, is an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition. Stress is the body's method of reacting to a condition such as a threat, challenge or physical and psycholog ...

, and provide inspiration for a brighter future with better things to come. In some instances, artists were asked to submit multiple drawings before being accepted by the community. When approval was given by the local residents on the artists’ final sketches, work on the murals proceeded, much to the satisfaction of all those involved.

Notable artists

Ida Abelman Ida York Abelman (1910–2002) was an American artist and muralist in the 1930s. Abelman was known as a Social Realist. She was born Ida York and lived her early life in New York City. At the age of 19 she married Larry Abelman, also an artist. ...

Kenneth Miller Adams Kenneth Miller Adams (1897 – 1966) was an American artist. Life He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Art Students League. He served in the U.S. Army in World War I. In 1924, he moved to Taos, New Mexico. He was a member of th ...

Dewey Albinson Ernest Dewey Albinson (March 9, 1898 in Minneapolis, Minnesota – 1971 in Jalisco, Mexico) was an American artist. Early life and education Albinson was the son of Swedish immigrant parents. He studied at the Minneapolis School of Art in ...

Lee Allen Lee Allen may refer to: *Lee Allen (wrestler) (1934–2012), wrestler and coach * Lee Allen (baseball) (1915–1969), baseball historian *Lee Allen (musician) (1927–1994), saxophone player *Lee Allen (artist) Lee Allen (1910 – May 5, 2006), bor ...

* Edmund Archer (artist) * Paul Theodore Arlt * Victor Arnautoff *

Ernest Hamlin Baker Ernest Hamlin Baker (1889-1975) was an American artist and illustrator from Poughkeepsie, New York. He illustrated more than 300 covers for ''Time'' magazine. He also made posters for the American Legion. He drew political cartoons for Poughkeep ...

Belle Baranceanu Belle Goldschlager Baranceanu (July 17, 1902January 17, 1988) was an American painter, teacher, muralist, lithographer, engraver and illustrator. She was born Belle Goldschlager in Chicago, Illinois (Baranceanu was her mother's maiden name). Her ...

Edith Barry Edith Cleaves Barry (1884–1969) was an American sculptor, painter, illustrator and designer born in Boston Massachusetts. She studied at the Art Students League in New York City and with Frank DuMond and Richard E. Miller. Barry was the founde ...

* Gifford Beal * Rainey Bennett * Lester W. Bentley * Oscar E. Berninghaus * Theresa Bernstein *

Auriel Bessemer Auriel Bessemer (February 27, 1909 – 1986) was an American muralist, painter, designer, illustrator and author born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He studied with Leon Kroll and Arthur Covey, at the Art Students League in New York City, Columbia Un ...

Edward Biberman Edward Biberman (October 23, 1904 – January 27, 1986) was an American artist active in the mid-twentieth century. His work ranged from stylised portraits to history-inspired murals, and drew on the emerging urban landscapes of southern Californ ...

* George Biddle *

Henry Billings Henry Billings (July 13, 1901 – October 1985) was an American artist. He was a painter, illustrator, muralist, and art instructor active in New York City. He was a grandson of John Shaw Billings, a surgeon and the first director of the New Yo ...

* Julien Binford *

Emil Bisttram Emil Bisttram (1895–1976) was an American artist who lived in New York and Taos, New Mexico, who is known for his modernist work. Life and works Emil Bisttram was born in Nagylak, Hungary in 1895 (today Nădlac, Romania). When he was 11 years ...

Arnold Blanch Arnold Blanch (June 4, 1896 – October 3, 1968), was born and raised in Mantorville, Minnesota. He was an American modernism, American modernist painter, etcher, illustrator, lithographer, muralist, printmaker and art teacher. Life His modern ...

Lucile Blanch Lucile Esma Lundquist Blanch (December 31, 1895 – October 31, 1981) was an American artist, art educator, and Guggenheim Fellow. She was noted for the murals she created for the U.S. Treasury Department's Section of Fine Arts during the Great ...

* Lucienne Bloch *

Acee Blue Eagle Acee Blue Eagle (17 August 1907 – 18 June 1959) was a Native American artist, educator, dancer, and Native American flute player,Wyckoff, 92 who directed the art program at Bacone College. His birth name was Alexander C. McIntosh, he also we ...

Peter Blume Peter Blume (27 October 1906 – 30 November 1992) was an American painter and sculptor. His work contained elements of folk art, Precisionism, Parisian Purism, Cubism, and Surrealism. Biography Blume, born in Smarhon, Russian Empire to a ...

Ernest L. Blumenschein Ernest Leonard Blumenschein (May 26, 1874 – June 6, 1960) was an American artist and founding member of the Taos Society of Artists. He is noted for paintings of Native Americans, New Mexico and the American Southwest. Early life and educat ...

* Aaron Bohrod * Louis Bouche *

Ray Boynton Ray Boynton (1883–1951) also known as Raymond Boynton, was an American artist and arts educator, most famous for his mural work in California during the Great Depression where he earned commissions under the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) ...

* Edgar Britton * Manuel Bromberg * Alexander Brook * Conrad Buff *

Byron Burford Byron Leslie Burford, Jr. (July 12, 1920 – June 17, 2011) was an American figurative painter. Biography Byron Leslie Burford, Jr., was born July 12, 1920, in Jackson, Mississippi, to Byron and Floy Smith Burford. Growing up in Greenville, ...

* Paul Cadmus * Kenneth Callahan *

Clarence Holbrook Carter Clarence Holbrook Carter (March 26, 1904 – June 4, 2000) born in Portsmouth, Ohio, was an American artist. Education Carter studied at the Cleveland School of Art from 1923 to 1927, and earned key patronage from William Millikin, the dir ...

Daniel Celentano Daniel Celentano (1902–1980) was an American Scene artist who made realistic paintings of everyday life in New York, particularly within the Italian neighborhood of East Harlem where he lived. During the Great Depression he painted murals ...

* Jean Charlot * Minna Citron * Frederick Conway * Howard Cook * Dean Cornwell * John Edward Costigan *

Arthur Covey Arthur Sinclair Covey (1877–1960) was an American muralist whose paintings depicted industrial workers doing their jobs. Personal life Covey was born in Leroy, Illinois on June 13, 1877 and was married to Mary Dorothea Sale from 1908 until he ...

Gustaf Dalstrom Gustaf Dalstrom (1893–1971) was an American artist and muralist. From 1927, he served as president of the Chicago Society of Artists. During the Great Depression he contributed several mural paintings to public schools and post offices through ...

* James Daugherty *

Horace Day Horace Day (3 July 1909 – 24 March 1984), also Horace Talmage Day, was an American painter of the American scene painting, American scene who came to maturity during the Thirties and was active as a painter over the next 50 years. He traveled ...

Boris Deutsch Boris Deutsch (1892–1978) was a naturalized American painter. Biography Boris Deutsch, a figurative and expressionist painter, born from a Jewish family in Krasnogorka shtetl, then part of the Russian Empire, was educated at the Bloom Academy ...

* Maynard Dixon * Margaret Dobson * Stevan Dohanos * Olin Dows *

Ethel Edwards Ethel Edwards (1914– 1999) was an American painter, collage artist, illustrator, and muralist. She is known for her New Deal murals. Education In 1933 she entered Newcomb College in New Orleans where she studied with Xavier Gonzalez. She mar ...

Stephen Etnier Stephen Morgan Etnier (September 11, 1903 – November 7, 1984) was an American realist painter, painting for six decades. His work is distinguished by a mixture of realism and luminism, favoring industrial and working scenes, but always ...

* Philip Evergood * William Dean Fausett *

Paul Faulkner Paul W. Faulkner (April 2, 1913 – January 5, 1997) was an American artist. Early life Born in North Platte, Nebraska, Faulkner received a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska and a master's degree from the Chicago Art Institute ...

* Denman Fink *

John Kelly Fitzpatrick John Kelly Fitzpatrick (1888–1953) was a regionalist American painter from Alabama. Biography Early life John Kelly Fitzpatrick was born in 1888 in Wetumpka, Alabama.Rebecca Mark (ed.), Robert C. Vaughan (ed.), ''The South'', Westport, Co ...

Joseph Fleck Joseph Amadeus Fleck (August 25, 1892 – April 5, 1977) was an American painter and muralist. His works include ''The Red Man of Oklahoma Sees the First Stage Coach'', in Hugo, Oklahoma, and ''First Mail Crossing Raton Pass'' and ''Unloading th ...

* Seymour Fogel * Helen Katharine Forbes *

Frances Foy Frances Foy (April 11, 1890 – 1963) was an American painter, muralist, illustrator, and etcher born in Chicago, Illinois. Career Foy began studying art with Wellington J. Reynolds at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and later attended the School ...

Jared French Jared French (February 4, 1905 – January 8, 1988) was an American painter who specialized in the medium of egg tempera. He was one of the artists attributed to the style of art known as magic realism along with contemporaries George Tooker ...

Arnold Friedman Arnold Friedman (February 23, 1879 – December 29, 1946) was an American Modernist painter. Life He was born in Corona, Queens, worked for the Federal Art Project and studied at the Art Students League of New York under the tutelage o ...

Lee Gatch Harry Lee Gatch (September 10, 1902 – November 10, 1968), was a twentieth-century American artist known for his lyrical abstractions and his ability to find "a fresh approach" to painting the figure and nature "through interwoven patterns of ...

Robert Franklin Gates Robert Franklin Gates (1906–1982) was an American muralist, painter, printmaker, and art professor. He was a professor at American University, between 1946 until 1975. In the 1930s, Gates was one of hundreds of artists who benefitted from the ...

Arthur Getz Arthur Kimmig Getz (May 17, 1913 – January 19, 1996) was an American illustrator best known for his fifty-year career as a cover artist for ''The New Yorker'' magazine. Between 1938 and 1988, two hundred and thirteen Getz covers appeared on ''The ...

Paul L. Gill Paul Ludwig Gill (1894 - 1938) was an American watercolor painter and teacher. His work includes a government funded mural in Cairo, Georgia. Shortly after the commission he died at age 44. The Brooklyn Museum of Art held a memorial exhibition ...

Lloyd Lozes Goff Lloyd Lozes Goff (1908–1982) was an American painter. Goff was born in 1908 in Dallas, Texas. He studied at the Art Students League and the University of New Mexico. His academic work at the University of New Mexico led to his becoming Assist ...

* Anne Goldthwaite *

Xavier Gonzalez Xavier Gonzalez (1898–1993) was an American artist. He was born in Almeria, Spain.Richard MeGra"Confronting Modernity: Art and Society in Louisiana" University Press of Mississippi (2008), pp. 82–89. . He lived in Argentina and Mexico for s ...

Bertram Goodman Bertram A. Goodman (1904–1988) was an American artist. He studied at the School of American Sculpture, and at the Art Students League of New York in 1925. He was a member of the Federal Art Project whose murals included, ''Evolution of the Bo ...

* Adolph Gottlieb * Sante Graziani * Gordon Grant * Grace Greenwood * Marion Greenwood *

Davenport Griffen William Davenport Griffen (1894 Millbrook, New York – 1986 San Rafael, California) was an American artist and muralist. Education He graduated from Iowa State University and studied at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and at the Art Institute o ...

* William Gropper * Philip Guston *

Robert Gwathmey Robert Gwathmey (January 24, 1903 – September 21, 1988) was an American social realist painter. His wife was photographer Rosalie Gwathmey(September 15, 1908 – February 12, 2001) and his son was architect Charles Gwathmey (June 19, 1938 – ...

Richard Haines Richard Haines (born Marion, Iowa, December 29, 1906, died, Los Angeles, California October 9, 1984) was an American New Deal muralist.University of Central Arkansas.Arkansas Post Office Murals. Murals Murals were produced from 1934 to 1943 i ...

Sally Haley Sally Haley (June 29, 1908 – September 1, 2007) was an American painter. Her career spanned much of the 20th century and she is credited for helping to expand the emerging art scene in Portland, Oregon, during the middle of the century. Much o ...

* Edith Hamlin * George Matthews Harding *

Charles Russell Hardman Charles Russell Hardman was an American artist from Florida. He painted works in U.S. Post Offices under a Treasury Department program. His "Indians Receiving Gifts" mural is at the Guntersville Post Office in Guntersville, Alabama. His "Episodes f ...

George Albert Harris George Albert Harris, also known as George Harris (1913–1991), was an American painter, muralist, lithographer, and educator. He was a participant in the WPA Federal Art Project and was among the youngest artists on the mural project at Coit T ...

Abraham Harriton Abraham Harriton was a Romanian-born American modernist artist and social realism painter in the United States. Early life and education Born in 1893 in Bucharest, then the Kingdom of Romania, Harriton studied at the National Academy of Desig ...

Ernest Martin Hennings Ernest Martin Hennings (1886–1956) was an American artist and member of the Taos Society of Artists. Biography E. Martin Hennings was born in Penns Grove, New Jersey on February 5, 1886 to German immigrant parents. Two years after he was bor ...

Charles Trumbo Henry Charles Trumbo Henry (1902–1964) was an American artist. His mural ''Northern Georgia'' (1939), an oil on canvas, was painted for the United States Post Office in Cornelia, Georgia, in a Section of Painting and Sculpture, Treasury Departmen ...

* Natalie Smith Henry *

Victor Higgins William Victor Higgins (June 28, 1884 – August 23, 1949) was an American painter and teacher, born in Shelbyville, Indiana. At the age of fifteen, he moved to Chicago, where he studied at the Art Institute in Chicago and at the Chicago Acade ...

* George Snow Hill *

Stefan Hirsch Stefan Hirsch (January 2, 1899 – September 28, 1964) was an American artist. Many of his paintings have the hard edges, smooth surfaces, and simplified forms of the precisionists and their typical subjects—cityscapes and industrial scenes� ...

Alexandre Hogue Alexandre Hogue (February 22, 1898 – July 22, 1994) was an American artist active from the 1930s through the 1960s. He was a realist painter associated with the Dallas Nine; the majority of his works focus on Southwestern United States and Sou ...

Milton Horn Milton Horn (September 1, 1906 – March 29, 1995) was a Ukrainian American sculptor and artist known for work that, according to a 1957 citation of honor from the American Institute of Architects, demonstrated "the truth that architecture an ...

* Victoria Hutson Huntley *

Peter Hurd Peter Hurd (February 22, 1904 – July 9, 1984) was an American painter whose work is strongly associated with the people and landscapes of San Patricio, New Mexico, where he lived from the 1930s. He is equally acclaimed for his portraits and hi ...

* Dahlov Ipcar * Reva Jackman *

Mitchell Jamieson Mitchell Jamieson (1915–1976) was an American painter. Jamieson was commissioned to paint a mural in what is now the Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior Building to commemorate Marion Anderson's famous concert at the Lincoln Memorial ...

* Edwin Boyd Johnson * J. Theodore Johnson * Allen Jones * Joe Jones *

Sheffield Kagy Sheffield Harold Kagy (1907–1989) was an American printmaker and muralist who also worked with Everett Warner to design US Navy Military camouflage#Ship camouflage, camouflage during World War II. Biography Active as a printmaker in Cleveland ...

* Joseph Kaplan *

Charles Kassler Charles Kassler Jr (September 9, 1897, Denver, Colorado — April 3, 1979, San Diego, California) was a painter, printmaker, and lithographer. Early life He lost a hand during a high school chemistry experiment. He studied art and architectur ...

* Rockwell Kent * Roy King *

Eugene Kingman Eugene Kingman (1909–1975) was an American cartographer, painter, muralist, teacher and museum director. Biography Kingman was born in 1909 in Providence, Rhode Island. He studied extensively at the Rhode Island School of Design (with John Fra ...

Alison Mason Kingsbury Alison Mason Kingsbury Bishop (born Alison Mason Kingsbury; 1898–1988) was an American artist who lived and worked in Ithaca, New York. Known professionally by her maiden name, her work features the landscapes of the Finger Lakes region and res ...

Vance Kirkland Vance Hall Kirkland (November 3, 1904 – May 24, 1981) was a painter and educator in Denver, Colorado. His paintings, from 1926 to 1981, range from realist and impressionist watercolors, to surrealist deadwood worlds, to abstract expressionist ...

Georgina Klitgaard Georgina Klitgaard ( Berrian; July 3, 1889/1893 – January 12, 1976) was an American artist.Karl Knaths *

Albert Kotin Albert Kotin (August 7, 1907 – February 6, 1980) belonged to the early generation of New York School Abstract Expressionist artists whose artistic innovation by the 1950s had been recognized across the Atlantic, including in Paris. The New Y ...

Edward Laning Edward Laning (1906–1981) was an American painter. Career Background Laning was born in 1906 in Petersburg, Illinois. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago (1923–1924) and the University of Chicago, (1925–1927). He also studied at t ...

Robert Laurent Robert Laurent (June 29, 1890 – April 20, 1970) was a French-American modernist figurative sculptor, printmaker and teacher. His work, the ''New York Times'' wrote,"figured in the development of an American sculptural art that balanced natu ...

Pietro Lazzari Pietro Lazzari (May 15, 1895 – May 1, 1979) was an Italian-American artist and sculptor. He is known for his sculptures, paintings, murals, illustrations and printmaking. Education Pietro Lazzari received his formal education from the Ornamen ...

* Thomas C. Lea III * Doris Lee *

Hilton Leech The Hilton Leech House and Amagansett Art School is a historic school in Sarasota, Florida. Named for artist Hilton Leech (Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1906 - Died in Virginia City, Montana 1969), it is located at 1666 Hillview Street. On ...

Robert Lepper Robert Lepper (1906-1991) was an American artist and art professor at Carnegie Institute of Technology, now Carnegie Mellon University, who developed the country's first industrial design degree program. Lepper's work in industrial design, his fa ...

* Edmund Lewandowski *

Arthur Lidov Arthur Hershel Lidov (June 14, 1917 – December 29, 1990) was an artist, illustrator, muralist, sculptor and inventor. Besides serving many national advertisers, he contributed his artistic expression to Life, Time, Fortune, The Saturday Evening ...

* Abraham Lishinsky *

Elizabeth Lochrie Elizabeth Davey Lochrie (July 1, 1890 – May 17, 1981) was an American painter, sculptor, and muralist born in Deer Lodge, Montana. She is best remembered for her portraits and portrayal of Native Americans and their lifestyle in the Montana an ...

Michael Loew Michael Loew (May 8, 1907 — November 14, 1985) was an American Abstract Expressionist artist who was born in New York City. Career In the late 1920s, Loew studied at the Art Students League with the Ashcan School and was a recipient of a Sadi ...

* Frank Long * Peppino Mangravite *

Ila Mae McAfee Ila Mae McAfee (October 21, 1897 or 1900 – April 18, 1995), also known as Ila McAfee Turner, was an American painter, muralist, illustrator and author. She was born in or near Gunnison, Colorado and known for her miniatures and as an animalier ...

* Ambrose McCarthy *

John McCrady John McCrady (September 11, 1911 – December 24, 1968) was a Louisiana painter and printmaker. McCrady was born in Canton, Mississippi and was raised in the American South. After winning a scholarship from the Art Students League of New York for ...

Musa McKim Musa Jane McKim Guston (née McKim; August 23, 1908 – March 30, 1992), was a painter and poet. Born in Oil City, Pennsylvania, McKim spent much of her youth in Panama. During the Great Depression, she worked under the Section of Fine Arts, ...

Miriam McKinnie Miriam McKinnie (May 22, 1906– October 22, 1987) also known as Miriam McKinnie Hofmeier, was an American artist. Education McKinnie was born in Evanston, Illinois. She attended the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis (MN) School ...

* Kindred McLeary *

Ludwig Mactarian Ludwig Mactarian (1908–1955; sometimes spelled 'MacTarian' or 'Mkitarian') was an American painter, muralist, and illustrator. Early life Ludwig Mactarian was born on January 1, 1908;website www.locategrave.org/l/4527016/Ludwig-Mactarian-NY ...

Ethel Magafan Ethel Magafan (August 10, 1916 – April 24, 1993) was an Americans, American painter and muralist. Early life Ethel Magafan was born in Chicago to Greek parents who had recently immigrated to the U.S. The family soon relocated to Colorado Spring ...

Herman Maril Herman Maril (1908–1986) was an artist and emeritus professor of painting at the University of Maryland. Biography Maril was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1908 and studied at the Maryland Institute of Fine Arts. He had 40 one-man exhibitions ...

* Reginald Marsh * David Stone Martin * Fletcher Martin *

Frank Mechau Frank Albert Mechau (may-show) Jr. (January 1904–1946), was an American artist and muralist. Mechau's aspiration to become an artist began early in his life and developed rapidly. His determination led to a distinguished career that inc ...

* Paul Meltsner *

Ross Moffett Ross Embrose Moffett (February 2, 1888 – March 13, 1971) was an American artist specializing in landscape painting, social realism themed murals and etching. He was a significant figure in the development of American Modernism after World War I ...

Stephen Mopope Stephen Mopope (1898–1974) was a Kiowa painter, dancer, and Native American flute player from Oklahoma. He was the most prolific member of the group of artists known as the Kiowa Six.Watson, Mary JoMopope, Stephen (1898-1974). ''Oklahoma Histori ...

F. Luis Mora Francis Luis Mora (July 27, 1874 – June 5, 1940) was a Uruguayan-born American figural painter. Mora worked in watercolor, oils and tempera. He produced drawings in pen and ink, and graphite; and etchings and monotypes. He is known for his pain ...

* Carl Morris * Archibald Motley * Archie Musick *

James Michael Newell James Michael Newell (February 21, 1900 – December 1985) was a gold medaled WPA artist, best known for his fresco murals. He was born in Carnegie, Pennsylvania into a large Irish family. His birth name was James Erbin Newell but he changed ...

* Dale Nichols *

Emrich Nicholson Emrich Nicholson (1913–2001) was an American art director for Paramount and Universal Studios and painter of murals, and designer of furniture and merchandise associated with the 1939 New York World's Fair. In 1948, he was nominated for an Acade ...

William C. Palmer William C. Palmer (1906–1987) was an American painter who created public murals. Biography William Charles Palmer was born in 1906, in Des Moines, Iowa.Alzira Peirce Alzira Handforth Peirce Albaugh (née Boehm; January 31, 1908 – June 19, 2010) was an American artist. Early life She and her siblings moved to Circle, Montana, to live as homesteaders after their father, August Abraham Boehm, died. Their ...

Waldo Peirce Waldo Peirce (December 17, 1884 – March 8, 1970) was an American painter, who for many years reveled in living the life of a bohemian expatriate. Peirce was both a prominent painter and a well-known colorful figure in the world of the arts ...

* Ernest Peixotto * Guy Pène du Bois *

Bernard Perlin Bernard Perlin was an American painter. He is primarily known for creating pro-war art during World War II and magic realism paintings of urban American life. Early life and education Perlin was born in Richmond, Virginia in 1918 to Davis an ...

Jose Moya del Pino José Moya del Piño (1891–1969) was a Spanish-born American painter, muralist and educator. He associated with the Post-impressionists of Spain and the Depression-era muralists in the San Francisco Bay Area. He taught classes at the San Fran ...

* Joseph Pollet *

Dorothy Wagner Puccinelli Dorothy Wagner Puccinelli, also known as Dorothy Puccinelli Cravath (December 19, 1901 – May 24, 1974), was a New Deal-era artist and muralist. She was based in San Francisco, California. Biography Born as Dorothy Wagner on December 19, 190 ...

J. K. Ralston James Kenneth "J.K." Ralston (March 31, 1896 – November 26, 1987) was an American painter of the Old American West whose primary topics were the American West and images of cowboys and American Indians. He also did commercial artwork. Life ...

* Anton Refregier *

Edna Reindel Edna Reindel (February 19, 1894 – April 3, 1990) was a subtle Surrealist and American Regionalist painter, printmaker, illustrator, sculptor, muralist, and teacher active from the 1920s to the 1960s. She is best known for her work in large-sc ...

* Daniel Rhodes *

Louis Leon Ribak Louis Leon Ribak (3 December 1902 – 1979) was an American social realist and abstract painter who was a member of the " Taos Moderns" group of artists. Biography Born in the Grodno in the Russian Empire, Ribak emigrated to New York City a ...

* George Rickey * Boardman Robinson *

Paul Herman Rohland Paul Herman Rohland (March 11, 1884 – September 29, 1949) was an American artist, printmaker, watercolorist, and muralist. He exhibited in the Armory Show of 1913 in New York City. Among others, his work is in the permanent collections of t ...

Louise Emerson Ronnebeck Louise Emerson Ronnebeck (25 August 1901 – 17 February 1980) was an American painter now best known for her work as a muralist. She submitted entries to 16 competitions for the Works Progress Administration (WPA), winning and completing two WPA ...

* Charles Rosen * Andrée Ruellan * Olive Rush * Paul Sample * Birger Sandzén *

Michael Sarisky Michael Aloysius Sarisky was an Ohio artist who lived from 1906 to 1974. Known for portraits and still lifes, his work was collected by the Cleveland Museum of Art. He was commissioned to provide several public works in and around Cleveland Ohio, i ...

Suzanne Scheuer Suzanne Scheuer (1898 – 1984) was an American fine artist, best known for her New Deal-era murals. She painted one of the murals in Coit Tower, ''Newsgathering''. Biography Suzanne Scheuer was born in San Jose, California on February 11 ...

* Martyl Schweig * Elise Seeds * Ben Shahn *

Bernarda Bryson Shahn Bernarda Bryson Shahn (March 7, 1903 – December 12, 2004) was an American painter and lithographer. She also wrote and illustrated children's books including ''The Zoo of Zeus'' and ''Gilgamesh.'' The artist Ben Shahn was her "life companion ...

Henrietta Shore Henrietta Mary Shore (January 22, 1880 – May 17, 1963) was a Canadian-born artist who was a pioneer of modernism. She lived a large part of her life in the United States, most notably California. Early life Shore was born in Toronto, Canada, to ...

Mitchell Siporin Mitchell Siporin (1910–1976) was a Social Realist American painter. Biography Mitchell Siporin was born on May 5, 1910 in New York City to Hyman, a truck driver, and Jennie Siporin, both immigrants from Poland, and grew up in Chicago.Abram Le ...

* John French Sloan *

Jacob Getlar Smith Jacob Getlar Smith (1898 – October 28, 1958) was an American painter and muralist who worked mostly in New York City. Smith studied at the National Academy of Design in New York from 1919 to 1921. In 1929, Smith was awarded a Guggenheim F ...

William Sommer William Sommer (1867–1949) was an American Modernist painter. William Sommer was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1867. He was largely self-taught, but received instruction early on from artist and commercial lithographer Julius Melchers. He ap ...

* Moses Soyer * Raphael Soyer * Ethel Spears *

Francis C. Speight Francis C. Speight (May 16, 1816 – March 20, 1877) was an American law enforcement officer and police inspector for the New York City Police Department. A noted crimefighter, credited for running out the criminal elements from Manhattan's Ei ...

Niles Spencer Niles Spencer (16 May 1893 – 15 May 1952) was an American painter of the Precisionist School who specialized in depicting urban and industrial landscapes. His works are in the permanent collections of several major museums including the Metr ...

* Harry Sternberg *

Ray Strong Ray Stanford Strong (January 3, 1905 – July 3, 2006) was an American painter from Corvallis, Oregon. He associated with the New Deal muralists in the San Francisco Bay Area. Early life and education Ray Strong was born in Corvallis, Oreg ...

Agnes Tait Agnes Tait (1894–1981) was an American painter, pen-and-ink artist, lithographer, book illustrator, muralist and dancer. Early life Born in Greenwich Village in New York City, Agnes Tait was the second and last child of Anita Innocentia McCart ...

Lorin Thompson Lorin Thompson, Lorin Hartwell Jr Thompson, (1911–1997), was a muralist, artist, and creator and illustrator of the character ''Ranger Rick'' for the National Wildlife Federation's children's magazine, Ranger Rick. Muralist The United States po ...

* Edward Buk Ulreich *

Stuyvesant Van Veen Stuyvesant Van Veen (1910–1988) was an American artist and muralist. Life Stuyvesant Van Veen was born in NYC, Sept, 12, 1910. He studied at the National Academy of Design and the Art Students League. In 1929 at the age of 19, he became the you ...

Philip von Saltza Philip von Saltza (March 3, 1885 – January 21, 1980) was a Swedish-born American artist and muralist. Early life Philip Wenceslaus von Saltza was born in Stockholm, Sweden. He immigrated to the United States with his parents, Carl Frederick ...

James Watrous James Scales Watrous (August 3, 1908 – 1999) was an American painter, muralist and educator born in Winfield, Kansas. He studied at the University of Wisconsin, where he also taught art history. Works Art Watrous painted ''The Story of Paul B ...

Elof Wedin Elof Wedin (June 28, 1901 – February 1, 1983) was a Swedish American artist who enjoyed a 50-year career in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. His main choice of medium was oil on canvas, but he also worked with pastels on velour, carve ...

W. Richard West, Sr. Walter Richard West Sr. (1912–1996, Southern Cheyenne), was a painter, sculptor, and educator. He led the Art Department at Bacone College from 1947 to 1970. He later taught at Haskell Institute for several years. Jones, Ruthe BlalockWest, Walte ...

Jessie Wilber Jessie Spaulding Wilber (November 10, 1912 – October 2, 1989) was an American printmaker and educator. Life and career Wilber was born in Whitewater, Wisconsin. Her family moved frequently in her childhood, living in Illinois, Ohio, Oklahoma, ...

* Lucia Wiley * Lumen Martin Winter *

Bernard Zakheim Bernard Baruch Zakheim (April 4, 1898 – November 28, 1985) was a Warsaw-born San Francisco muralist, best known for his work on the Coit Tower murals. Early life and immigration Zakheim was born to a Hasidic Jewish family in Warsaw, then part ...

Marguerite Zorach Marguerite Zorach (née Thompson; September 25, 1887 – June 27, 1968) was an American Fauvist painter, textile artist, and graphic designer, and was an early exponent of modernism in America. She won the 1920 Logan Medal of the Arts. Early lif ...

* Milford Zornes * Jirayr Zorthian

48-State Mural Competition

A competition for one mural to be painted in a post office in each of the 48 states (plus Washington, D.C.) was held in November 1939 at the Corcoran Gallery. The jury selecting the winners was composed of four artists: Maurice Sterne (Chairman),

Henry Varnum Poor Henry Varnum Poor (December 8, 1812 – January 4, 1905) was an American financial analyst and founder of H.V. and H.W. Poor Co, which later evolved into the financial research and analysis bellwether, Standard & Poor's. Biography Born in East A ...

, Edgar Miller, and Olin Dows. Winners were chosen from the original mural studies, not completed murals; community response to artist proposals sometimes resulted in revised designs.

Notes

References

External links

*Historian, United States Postal Service.
New Deal Art in Post Offices
' (September 2015) *David Lembeck,
Rediscovering the People's Art, New Deal Murals in Pennsylvania Post Offices
', with photographs by Michael Mutmansky, (2008)

(2009)

(2009)
The History of United States Post Office Murals
(2018) {{United States Postal Service Murals in the United States Public art in the United States United States Postal Service Section of Painting and Sculpture Treasury Relief Art Project