I really do get unreasonably excited by these darn murals. This 5' x 14' oil on canvas is titled "Winter Sports" and was painted in 1938 by Edward Morton. It was taken off the wall in the 1970's and stored in the basement. In 2003 it was sent out for extensive restoration and was rededicated that same year.
As I've mentioned before, most of the post office murals were not actually WPA art but were executed by artists working for The Section of Fine Arts of the Treasury Department. Artists competed for the jobs, and guidelines and themes were set forth. As I'm sure you've noted already, local scenes were the usual topic. Current tragic economic scenes, however, were to be avoided and historical events were favored. If you want to see the other ones I've found, click on the New Deal art label at the bottom of this post. Other states have some of these murals as well in public places and I'm adding them to my travel list. As a matter of fact, the Community Center in Newport, Tennessee is just a 40 minute drive down the Cosby Hwy from our Gatlinburg campground next month. Perhaps?
Oconomowoc is home to Olympia Ski Resort & Spa, not that we have much snow these past few years in southern Wisconsin. Linking up to Mural Monday.
Nie mural just a shame they don't do that in our PO's
ReplyDeleteThose were the days when winter sports were played outside rather than in arena..
ReplyDeleteWe saw one of those murals in Weiser, Idaho. I thought of you and was very sorry I hadn't brought my camera. It was a cute post office.
ReplyDeleteWonderful looking your murals..and also last scenery is amazing.
ReplyDeleteHugs
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Hi, Pam. I like these Depression-era murals. Last year I showed one in the New Britain (CT) library on my blog. I should start looking harder for them.
ReplyDeleteAnd, thanks for visiting my blog on Monday and commenting about the inclusion of people in the photo. I completely agree. Whenever I can do it, I put people in a photo instead of just showing inanimate subjects like billboards. It can't always be done; for example, my post today shows four interesting houses, but no one was passing by, so the photos are of just the houses. But, when possible, include people. (Or dogs.)
I had no idea that WPA-era murals graced so many post offices. Thank you for documenting those you find. It's an important part of our history. Thanks for contributing to this week's Monday Mural.
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