New Deal/WPA Art in Alabama


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.

Unless indicated, works of art are located in the US Post Office building.

Location

Artist

Title

Date

Medium

Alexander City

Franc Epping

"Cotton," "Tobacco," and "Wheat"

1941

terra-cotta reliefs

Atmore

Anne Goldthwaite

"The Letter Box"

1938

oil on canvas

Bay Minette

Hilton Leech

"Removal of the County Seat from Daphne to Bay Minette"

1939

oil on canvas

Brewton

John Von Wicht

"Logging"

1939

missing

Carrollton
Post Office and Agricultural Building

Stuart R. Purser

"Farm Scene with Senator Bankhead"

1943

mural

Enterprise
(now in the
Public Library)

Paul Arlt

"Saturday in Enterprise"

1941

tempera

Eutaw

Robert Gwathmey

"The Countryside"

1941

oil on canvas

Fairfield

Frank Anderson

"Spirit of Steel"

1938

oil on canvas

Fort Payne

Harwood Steiger

"Harvest at Fort Payne"

1938

oil on canvas (two panels)

Guntersville

Charles Russell Hardman

"Indians Receiving Gifts from Spanish"

1947

oil on canvas

Haleyville

Hollis Holbrook

"Reforestation"

1940

mural
(painted over)*

Hartselle

Lee R. Warthen

"Cotton Scene"

1941

mural

Huntsville
Post Office and Courthouse

Xavier Gonzalez

"Tennessee Valley Authority"

1937

mural (several panels)

Luverne

Arthur Getz

"Cotton Field"

1942

mural

Monroeville
Post Office and Agricultural Building

Arthur Leroy Bairnsfather

"Harvesting"

1939

oil on canvas

Montevallo

William S. McCall

"Early Settlers Weighing Cotton"

1939

oil on canvas

Oneonta

Aldis B. Browne

"Local Agriculture - A.A.A. 1939"

1939

oil on canvas

Opp

Hans Mangelsdorf

"Opp"

1940

wood relief

Ozark

J. Kelly Fitzpatrick

"Early Industry of Dale County"

1938

oil on canvas

Phenix City

J. Kelly Fitzpatrick

"Cotton"

1939

oil on canvas

Russellville

Conrad A. Albrizzio

"Shipment of First Iron Produced in Russellville"

1938

fresco

Scottsboro

Constance Ortmayer

"Alabama Agriculture"

1940

plaster bas-relief

Tuscumbia

Jack McMillen

"Chief Tuscumbia Greets the Dickson Family"

1939

mural

Tuskegee

Anne Goldthwaite

"The Road to Tuskegee"

1937

oil on canvas

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

*information sent by Jimmy Emerson.


Birmingham - the Eastlake Public Library, Birmingham, was painted in 1937 as a Public Works Art Project mural. The artist was Birmingham native Carrie Hill. It depicts several children storybook characters. The mural measures 27 ft by 9 ft. It was damaged in the 1970's by fire and water. It was restored in 1993 by John Bertalam. The artist, Carrie Hill, used her own likeness for the face of Mother Goose.

Jasper - the Central Elementary School Auditorium, Jasper had a WPA mural painted by Carrie Hill around 1940-41. It depicted the "Pied Piper" but unfortunately, when the building was torn down many years ago, the mural was destroyed. Carrie Hill also painted the mural in the East Lake Library, Birmingham. information courtesy of Jimmy Emerson

Mobile - John Augustus Walker Murals (1936) - now located in the The Museum of Mobile on South Royal Street - Hurricane Katrina update: This museum had severe flooding during Katrina but reopened on March 1. http://www.archives.state.al.us/mobile/mobile1.html
(information contributed by Terri Kenny).

More info about the Alabama murals can be found at: www.alabamamoments.state.al.us/sec49det.html



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