New Deal/WPA Art in Kennebunkport,
Maine
"The Bathers"
by Elizabeth Tracey, the original Post Office mural for this Post Office,
was funded by the Section of Fine Arts under the Treasury Department and
not the WPA.
|
Kennebunkport, ME Post Office
unknown title - oil on canvas
by Gordon Grant (1944)
The original Kennebunkport mural, painted in
1941 by Elizabeth Tracey, and entitled "Bathers" was removed
due to criticism from local citizens. The present-day mural was painted
in 1944 by Gordon Grant. It depicts Kennebunkport Harbor and the vesssel
"Brig Lima". The locals actually raised over $1,000 to have the
second mural painted. The issue eventually went to the US Congress. The
proposal that the Government accept the Kennebunkport citizens' version
of proper Post Office art was introduced as an amendment to the "Independent
Offices Appropriations Bill."
- Information from local newspaper articles
|
Image courtesy of
the USPS
Photograph taken by William
Kolodrubetz.
Reference Source:
Democratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal
by Marlene Park & Gerald E. Markowitz
Thanks to Jimmy Emerson who
contributed the photograph!
Look for photographs of Post
Office exteriors at the Post Mark Collectors Club (PMCC) Post Office photo
page: http://www.postmarks.org/photos
Maine
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