See also: List of United States post office murals. United States post office murals are notable examples of New Deal 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 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 commemorating the murals; the murals were from the post offices of Piggott, AR; Anadarko, OK; Florence, CO; Deming, NM; and Rockville, MD.[1]
As one of the projects in the New Deal during the Great Depression 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 courthouses, 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.[2] 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's executive order of October 14, 1934.[2] 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.[3]
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 12by 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.[4]
The Treasury Relief Art Project (1935–1938), which provided artistic decoration for existing Federal buildings,produced a smaller number of post office murals.[5] 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.[6]
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.[6] [7] 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.[6] [7] "New Deal artwork" is a more accurate term to describe the works of art created under the federal art programs of that period.[8]
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.[9]
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.[10]
Artists submitted sketches anonymously to a committee of their peers for judging. The committees, composed of art critics, 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.[2] 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.[11]
Artists were asked to paint in an "American scene" style, depicting ordinary citizens in a realistic manner. Abstract art, modern art, social realism, and allegory were discouraged.[2] 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.[12] 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.[6]
The selection of out-of-state artists sometimes generated concerns, such as stereotypes 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.[2]
In Arkansas, 19 post offices received murals, with two post offices, one in Berryville, Carroll County and another in Monticello, Drew County, receiving sculpture. For seven decades following the Civil War, Arkansas had been perceived as the epitome of poverty 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 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, 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.[2] 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.[4]
See also: List of United States post office murals.
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, 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.[83] [84]
| Artist | Title | Image | City | State | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original | Revised | ||||||
| data-sort-value="Gwathmey, Rob" | Robert Gwathmey | Fish for the Interior | The Countryside | Alabama | |||
| data-sort-value="Fogel, Seymour" | Seymour Fogel | Indian Dance | History of the Gila Valley | Arizona | |||
| data-sort-value="Vorst, Jos" | Joseph P. Vorst | Rural Arkansas | Arkansas | ||||
| data-sort-value="Davis, Lew" | Lew E. Davis | Indian Pony Round | Early Spanish Caballeros | California | |||
| data-sort-value="Fraser, Joh" | John H. Fraser | North Platte Country Against the Mountains | Littleton, Colorado | Colorado | |||
| data-sort-value="Tobey, Alton S" | A. S. Tobey | Stop of Hooker's Band in East Hartford before Crossing River | Connecticut | ||||
| data-sort-value="Calfee, Wil" | William H. Calfee | Saw Mill | Chicken Farm[86] | Delaware | |||
| data-sort-value="Laughlin, T I" | Thomas I. Laughlin | Seascape | Scene of Town | Florida | |||
| data-sort-value="Terrell, Elizabeth" | Elizabeth Terrell | The Ploughman | Georgia | ||||
| data-sort-value="Martin, Fle" | Fletcher Martin | Mine Rescue | Discovery | Idaho | |||
| data-sort-value="Lewandowski, Edu" | Edmund Lewandowski | Threshing Grain | On the River[87] | Illinois | |||
| data-sort-value="Meert, Jos" | Joseph Meert | Harvesting[88] | Indiana | ||||
| data-sort-value="Gilmore, Mar" | Marion Gilmore | Band Concert | Iowa | ||||
| data-sort-value="Jones, Joe" | Joe Jones | Men and Wheat | Kansas | ||||
| data-sort-value="Bunn, Will" | William E. L. Bunn | Mississippi Packets | Kentucky | ||||
| data-sort-value="Lewis, Lau" | Laura B. Lewis | County Courthouse | Louisiana Farm | Louisiana | |||
| data-sort-value="Greenbie, Bar" | Barry Greenbie | River Driving | Maine | ||||
| data-sort-value="Clayton, Ale" | Alexander Clayton | Three Fishermen and Wild Life Typical of Cecil County | Maryland | ||||
| data-sort-value="Watson, Jea" | Jean Watson | A Massachusetts Countryside | Massachusetts | ||||
| data-sort-value="Calder, Jam" | James Calder | Waiting for Mail | Michigan | ||||
| data-sort-value="Humphrey, Don" | Don Humphrey | Production | Minnesota | ||||
| data-sort-value="Purser, Stuart R." | Stuart R. Purser | Ginning Cotton | Mississippi | ||||
| data-sort-value="Turnbull, Jam" | James Baare Turnbull | Loading Cattle | Missouri | ||||
| data-sort-value="Gassner, Mor" | Mordi Gassner | Old Time Pioneers and New | Montana | ||||
| data-sort-value="von Saltza, Phi" | Philip von Saltza | Wild Horses by Moonlight | Nebraska | ||||
| data-sort-value="Gottlieb, Ado" | Adolph Gottlieb | Homestead on the Plain | Nevada | ||||
| data-sort-value="von Saltza, Phi" | Philip von Saltza | Logging | New Hampshire | ||||
| data-sort-value="Johnson, Ave" | Avery Johnson | Skating on Bonaparte's Pond | New Jersey | ||||
| data-sort-value="Deutsch, Bor" | Boris Deutsch | Indian Bear Dance | New Mexico | ||||
| data-sort-value="Earley, Mar" | Mary Earley | Down-Rent-War, Around 1845 | New York | ||||
| data-sort-value="Tompkins, Ala" | Alan Tompkins | Tobacco Harvest | North Carolina | ||||
| data-sort-value="Ulreich, Edw" | Edward Buk Ulreich | Advance Guard of the West | North Dakota | ||||
| data-sort-value="Kenah, Ric" | Richard Kenah | Ohio Harvest | Ohio | ||||
| data-sort-value="Conway, Fred" | Fred Conway | The Roundup | Oklahoma | ||||
| data-sort-value="Wilkinson, Jac" | Jack Wilkinson | Cattle Stampede | Cattle Thieves Surprised by Posse | Oregon | |||
| data-sort-value="Thompson Jr, Lor" | Lorin Thompson, Jr. | Clearing the Land | Pennsylvania | ||||
| data-sort-value="Sample, Pau" | Paul Sample | Railway Station | Rhode Island | ||||
| data-sort-value="Gatch, Lee" | Lee Gatch | Tobacco Industry | South Carolina | ||||
| data-sort-value="Ziegler, M E" | M. E. Ziegler | Wheat in the Shock | South Dakota | ||||
| data-sort-value="Martin, Dav" | David Stone Martin | Electrification | Tennessee | ||||
| data-sort-value="Edwards, Ethel" | Ethel Edwards | Afternoon on a Texas Ranch | Texas | ||||
| data-sort-value="Magafan, Jen" | Jenne Magafan | Western Town | Utah | ||||
| data-sort-value="Miller, Bar" | Barse Miller | Lumber Yard | Vermont | ||||
| data-sort-value="Calfee, Wil" | William H. Calfee | Chesapeake Fishermen | Virginia | ||||
| data-sort-value="Haines, Richard" | Richard Haines | Red River Ox Carts | Washington | ||||
| data-sort-value="Poor, Hen" | Henry Varnum Poor | Cartoon for Completed Mural in the Department of Interior Building (New) | Washington, D.C. | ||||
| data-sort-value="Zoellner, Ric" | Richard Zoellner | West Virginia Landscape | West Virginia | ||||
| data-sort-value="Thwaites, Cha" | Charles W. Thwaites | Threshing Barley | Wisconsin | ||||
| data-sort-value="Bromberg, Manuel A." | Manuel Bromberg | Chuck Wagon Serenade | Wyoming | ||||