Minnesota New Deal Art

New Deal/WPA Art in Minnesota

Milaca - the old Milaca City Hall

Sebeka - Richard Haines' murals in the Sebeka High School

Shakopee - Thanks to Ms. Marian Caron (nee Heinen) and Ms. Gertrude (Siebenaler) Roepke for their contributions of photos, information, and a comprehensive article by Ms. Roepke about the Shakopee High School Library WPA mural painted by Mr. Harmon Arndt in 1938.

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
Breckenridge	Robert Allaway	"Arrival of the Rural Mail"	1938	oil on canvas
Caledonia	Edmund D. Lewandowski	"Hog Raising"	1942	tempera
Cambridge	Seymour Fogel	"People of the Soil"	1940	oil on canvas
Chisholm	Betty Carney	"Discovery of Ore"	1941	oil on canvas
Cloquette	Dewey Albinson	"Lake Superior Shores - Yesterday and Today"	1937	oil on canvas (missing)
Ely	Elsa Jemne	"Wilderness" and "Iron-Ore Mines"	1941	tempera
Grand Rapids	James S. Watrous	"Life in Grand Rapids and the Upper Mississippi"	1940	tempera
Hastings	Richard Haines	"Arrival of Fall Catalogue"	1938	oil on canvas
Hopkins (building boarded up in 1972)	David Granahan	"Cultivation of Raspberries"	1937	oil on canvas (funded by TRAP)
Hutchinson	Elsa Jemne	"The Hutchinson Singers"	1942	egg tempera on plaster
International Falls	Lucia Wiley	"Logging"	1937	fresco
Litchfield	Elof Wedin	"Street Scene"	1937	oil on canvas
Long Prairie	Lucia Wiley	"Gathering Wild Rice"	1939	fresco
Marshall	Henry S. Holmstrom	"Pioneers Arriving in Marshall by Wagon Train"	1938	oil on canvas
Morris	Alfred Sessler	"Gager's Trading Post on the Wadsworth Trail"	1943	tempera on canvas
Park Rapids	Alonzo Hauser	"Park Service Symbol," "Indian," and "Lumberjack in Setting"	1941	wood reliefs
Rochester (moved to Olmsted County Historical Society)	David Granahan	"The Founding of Rochester"	1937	mural
Saint Cloud	David Granahan	"Construction - Saint Cloud"	1937	oil on canvas
Saint Cloud* (returned to original location)	Brenda Putnam	"The Southwest and the Northeast Divided by the Mississippi"	1939	plaster relief
Saint James	Margaret Martin	"Indian Hunters and Rice Gatherers"	1940	oil on canvas
Saint Paul, North Saint Paul Branch	Donald Humphrey	"Production"	1941	tempera
Saint Paul, White Bear Lake Branch	Nellie G. Best	"Early Voyageurs at Portage"	1940	tempera
Sauk Centre	Richard Jansen	"Threshing Wheat"	1942	oil on canvas
Wabasha	Allan Thomas	"The Smoke Message"	1939	oil on canvas
Wayzata	Ruth Grotenrath	"Wayzata (Pines of the North)"	1947	tempera
Windom	Charles W. Thwaites	Agricultural Theme	1943	tempera

All mural images depicted on this site are used with permission
of the United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.

*The St. Cloud plaster relief by Brenda Putnam had been moved to Minnesota Dept. of Manpower Services, 111 Lincoln Ave., SE but has now been returned to its original location at 720 St. Germain Street, St. Cloud (The 1937 WPA U.S. Post Office). The community arranged for return of the sculpture from the State of Minnesota, had the piece restored (it was in 8 pieces), and reinstalled it in its original location, now on display for the public - information courtesy of Matt Riley

Reference Source:
Democratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal
by Marlene Park & Gerald E. Markowitz

Minnesota History Topics: WPA Art Projects
A good article with many resources for the Minnesota Federal Art Project

"Art for a People: an Iconographic and Cultural Study of Mural Painting in Minnesota's New Deal Art Programs"
by Kathleen McCarney, Art History, 1994, College of St. Benedict - St. Johns University
Senior Honors Thesis,
Listing of 66 Slides

"WPA Murals in Minnesota Buildings"
Compiled by University Art Museum, University of Minnesota. Views of surviving WPA murals in public buildings, institutions, and schools throughout Minnesota, including Rochester, Faribault, White Bear Lake, Chisholm, International Falls, Caledonia, Wabasha, Milaca, Sebeka, Windom, and the Minneapolis Armory. MHS call number: I.77 (in the A-V Collection); (there are 66 slides); available only on-site.

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