New Deal/WPA Art in Massachusetts
Post Office New Deal Artwork
Most of the Post Office works of art were funded through commissions under the Treasury Department's Section of Painting and Sculpture (later known as The Section of Fine Arts) and not the WPA.
"Often mistaken for WPA art, post office murals were actually executed by artists working for the Section of Fine Arts. Commonly known as "the Section," it was established in 1934 and administered by the Procurement Division of the Treasury Department. Headed by Edward Bruce, a former lawyer, businessman, and artist, the Section's main function was to select art of high quality to decorate public buildings if the funding was available. By providing decoration in public buildings, the art was made accessible to all people." from "Articles from EnRoute : Off The Wall: New Deal Post Office Murals" by Patricia Raynor
Unless indicated, works of art are located in the US Post Office building.
|
Location |
Artist |
Title |
Date |
Medium |
|
Adams |
Helen Rubin Stoler |
"Quakers and the Site of Adams" |
1940 |
fresco |
|
Ashland |
Saul Berman |
"The Railroad Comes to Town" |
1941 |
oil on canvas |
|
Ayer |
Leo Friedlander |
"Rural Mail" |
1943 |
wood relief |
|
Boston, |
William C. Palmer |
"Purchase of the Land and Modern Tilling of the Soil" |
1938 |
oil on canvas |
|
Boston, |
William Abbott Cheever |
"The Reverend John Eliot Preaching to the Indians" |
1941 |
mural |
|
Boston, |
Ralf E. Nickelson |
"Communication" |
1941 |
oil on canvas, |
|
Boston, |
Stephen Etnier |
"Mail for New England" |
1940 |
oil on canvas |
|
Boston, |
Aiden Lassell Ripley |
"Paul Revere's Ride" |
1940 |
oil on canvas |
|
Boston, |
Elizabeth Tracy |
"The Suffolk Resolves - Oppression and Revolt in the Colonies" |
1939 |
oil on canvas |
|
Boston, |
Guy Pene du Bois |
"First Landing at Weymouth" |
1942 |
oil on canvas |
|
Canton |
Ernest Fiene |
"Paul Revere - 1801" |
1937 |
oil on canvas |
|
Chicopee Falls |
Frederick H. Brunner |
four wooden grilles |
1936 |
wood relief |
|
Chicopee Falls |
Ernest Halberstadt |
"History of Chicopee Falls" |
1938 |
oil on canvas |
|
Clinton |
Theodore C. Barbarossa |
"History of a Letter" |
1939 |
plaster relief |
|
Concord |
Charles Anton Kaeselau |
"Battle at the Bridge" |
1941 |
oil on canvas |
|
Danvers |
Dunbar Beck |
"Return of Timothy Pickering to Reside at Danvers" |
1939 |
oil on canvas |
|
Dedham |
W. Lester Stevens |
"Early Rural mail Delivery" and "Early Rural School" |
1936 |
oil on canvas |
|
East Walpole |
George Kanelous |
"Early Paper Making" |
1941 |
tempera |
|
|
Karl Oberteuffer |
"Recapture of Corn Schooner from British" |
1943 |
oil on canvas |
|
Foxboro |
Arnold Geissbuhler |
"Straw Cutting and Weaving" |
1941 |
wood relief |
|
Greenfield |
Helene Sardeau |
"Planting," "Mother and Child," and "Reaping" |
1941 |
sculpture |
|
Holyoke |
Ross Moffett |
"Captain Alezur Holyoke's Exploring Party on the Connecticut River" |
1936 |
oil on canvas |
|
Hyannis |
Benjamin Hawkins |
"Cape Cod Fishermen" |
1939 |
cast stone relief |
|
Ipswich |
Saul Levine |
"Ipswich Tax Resistance - 1687" |
1941 |
oil on canvas |
|
Lynn |
William Riseman |
"Colonial and Contemporary Civic Culture" and "Early and Modern Industries of Lynn" |
1936 |
oil on canvas |
|
Mansfield |
Joseph A. Coletti |
"Farmers and Geese" |
1939 |
plaster relief |
|
Medford |
Henry Billings |
"Golden Triangle of Trade" |
1939 |
oil on canvas |
|
Millbury |
Joe Lasker |
"An Incident in the King Philip War, 1670" |
1941 |
oil on canvas |
|
Natick |
Hollis Holbrook |
"John Eliot Speaks to the Natick Indians" |
1937 |
tempera |
|
North Adams |
Louis Slobodkin |
"Mohawk Trail Workers" and "Mills Digging Tunnel" |
1942 |
cast stone reliefs (one of three destroyed) |
|
Northampton |
Alfred D. Crimi |
"Work, Religion and Education" |
1940 |
oil on canvas |
|
Orange |
Oronzio Maldarelli |
"Builders of Orange" |
1939 |
plaster relief |
|
Peabody |
Waldo Peirce |
"Old Bull Pen" |
1940 |
oil on canvas |
|
Revere |
Ross Moffett |
"The First Store and Tavern" |
1939 |
oil on canvas |
|
Rockport |
W. Lester Stevens |
"Preparing Rockport Granite for Shipment" |
1939 |
oil on canvas |
|
Saugus |
Robert Penn |
"Historic Saugus" |
1941 |
aluminum relief |
|
Somerville |
Ross E. Moffett |
"A Skirmish between British and Colonists" |
1939 |
oil on canvas |
|
South Hadley |
Saul Levine |
"Composite View of South hadley" |
1942 |
tempera |
|
Springfield |
Umberto Romano |
"History of Springfield" |
1937/38 |
mural |
|
Stoneham |
William Zorach |
"Shoemakers of Stoneham" |
1942 |
terra-cotta relief |
|
Stoughton |
Jean Watson |
"A Massachusetts Countryside" |
1940 |
oil on canvas |
|
Wakefield |
Fortunato Tarquinia |
"Benjamin Franklin" and"George Washington" |
1936 |
marble reliefs on facade |
|
Wareham |
Lewis Rubenstein |
"Cranberry Pickers" |
1940 |
oil on canvas |
|
West Springfield |
Walter Hancock |
"New England Post Rider" |
1938 |
plaster relief |
|
Whitinsville |
Milton Horn |
"Colonel Paul Whitin - Blacksmith" |
1939 |
plaster relief |
|
Whitman |
Attilio Piccirilli |
"Liberty" |
1940 |
plaster relief |
|
Winchendon |
Minna Harkavy |
"Industry and Landscape of Winchendon" |
1942 |
wood relief |
|
Wollaston |
George Kratina |
"Welder" |
1942 |
wood releif |
|
Worcester |
Ralf E. Nickelson |
"Reading of the Mail," "Farming in the Worcester Region," and "Street Building" |
1940 |
mural |
All mural images depicted
on this site are used with permission
of the United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.
Source:
Democratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal
by Marlene Park & Gerald E. Markowitz
Boston:
Boston Housing Project - Treasury Department
Art Project (from "Federal Art in New England")
Burroughs Newsboys' Foundation - WPA project
(from "Federal Art in New England")
Children's Museum - WPA project (from "Federal
Art in New England")
Custom House - WPA project (from "Federal
Art in New England")
Hancock School - WPA project (from "Federal
Art in New England")
Long Island Hospital - WPA project (from "Federal
Art in New England")
Michaelangelo School - WPA project (from "Federal
Art in New England")
State House - WPA project (from "Federal
Art in New England")
Brighton - William Howard Taft School - WPA project (from "Federal Art in New England")
Charlestown - Bunker Hill Post of the American Legion - WPA project (from "Federal Art in New England")
Fall River - Technical High School - WPA project (from "Federal Art in New England"). Fall River was also home to John Mann, WPA artist
Falmouth:
Community Centre - WPA project (from "Federal
Art in New England")
Falmouth High School - WPA project (from "Federal
Art in New England")
Gloucester:
City Hall - WPA project (from "Federal
Art in New England")
Eastern Avenue School - WPA project (from
"Federal Art in New England")
Gloucester High School - WPA project (from
"Federal Art in New England")
Hovey School - WPA project (from "Federal
Art in New England")
Greenfield:
Greenfield High School - WPA project (from
"Federal Art in New England")
Monroe School - WPA project (from "Federal
Art in New England")
Holbrook - Franklin School - WPA project (from "Federal Art in New England")
Marblehead - High School - WPA project (from "Federal Art in New England")
Medford - High School - WPA project (from "Federal Art in New England")
Newton - High School - WPA project (from "Federal Art in New England")
Rockport - Town Hall - WPA project (from "Federal Art in New England")
Roxbury - Boston Clerical School - WPA project (from "Federal Art in New England")
Sandwich - Sandwich Grade School - WPA project (from "Federal Art in New England")
Saugus - Municipal Building - WPA project (from "Federal Art in New England")
Springfield:
Court House - WPA project (from "Federal
Art in New England")
Springfield Museum of Natural History - WPA
project (from "Federal Art in New England")
Tyngsboro, MA Post Office mural - note: this mural was NOT funded under the New Deal.
© 2004 Nancy Lorance
All Rights Reserved.