The first New Deal mural that I found in Kentucky was located in the town of Williamsburg. I was lucky to see it at all considering they have a new post office in town and this one is currently being used for storage by the County Clerk's office to store the voting machines and other items. Apparently it is under consideration for the building to be demolished, but no final decision has been made. The lady at the new post office is under the impression that they would save the mural for historical purposes even if they could not save the building. The building has seen better days. One thing we've noticed in Kentucky is that most older buildings look like they've never had any work done to them. Since these paintings only went into new buildings as they were being built, it is from 1939 and the front was full of broken windows and rotting wood.
The building's sad condition aside, I was really excited to get my first out of state New Deal mural and the added adventure of having to hunt someone down to open the building for me was kind of neat.
The mural was painted by Alois Fabry and is entitled "Floating Horses Down the Cumberland River".
We saw the Cumberland River when we visited Cumberland Falls. The falls is one of the few in the western hemisphere where you can see a moonbow. Historically the Cumberland River was important for trade and travel as it reached the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.
Back home today so I'm linking up to
Monday Mural!
Wonderful, it should be saved along with the rest of the wall
ReplyDeleteYou went to great lengths to see this mural! Hope that it can be saved.
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed by your diligence in hunting this one out. You're becoming an expert on these New Deal murals. I hope you find more. This one is wonderful especially in the way it fits a big image into a small space. I do hope it is saved. If it's a fresco, it can literally be pulled off the wall and placed elsewhere. Thanks for contributing to this week's Monday Mural.
ReplyDeleteI hope they can save the mural!
ReplyDelete