New Deal/WPA Art in Ohio
*a webpage formerly posted by the Ohio Historical Society but currently withdrawn
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 |
|
|
Albert Kotin |
"Country Dance" |
1940 |
oil on canvas |
|
Amherst |
Michael Loew |
"Pioneers Crossing the Ohio River" |
1941 |
oil on canvas |
|
Barnesville |
Michael Loew |
"Airmail" |
1937 |
oil on canvas |
|
Bedford |
Karl Anderson |
"Drift toward Industrialism" |
1937 |
oil on canvas |
|
Bellevue |
Paul Meltsner |
"Ohio" |
1937 |
mural |
|
Bluffton |
Sante Graziani |
"Joseph Deford and Hist Friends Building the First Cabin in Bluffton" |
1941 |
oil on canvas |
|
|
Richard Kenah |
"Ohio Harvest" |
1940 |
oil on canvas |
|
Caldwell |
Robert L. Lepper |
"Noble County - Ohio" |
1938 |
tempera |
|
Campbell |
Joseph Walter |
"Iron and Steel Industry" |
1941 |
terra-cotta relief |
|
Canton, |
Glenn M. Shaw |
"Steel Industry" |
1934-37 |
mural |
|
Chagrin Falls |
Moissaye Marans |
"Stone Quarries" |
1943 |
wood |
|
Chardon |
George A. Picken |
"Maple Sugar Camp" |
1942 |
oil on canvas |
|
Cincinnati |
John F. Holmes, Paul Chidlaw, Frederick Springer, and Richard Zoellner |
"Landmarks of Cincinnati" |
no date |
mural |
|
Cleveland, |
Jack J. Greitzer |
"Post Office Interiors" |
1936 |
oil on canvas, |
|
Cleveland, |
Richard Zoellner |
"Ore Docks and Steel Mills" |
1938 |
mural |
|
Cleveland, |
Clarence Zyuld and John Czosz |
historical and modern scenes of Cleveland |
1937 |
(funded by TRAP) - six panels |
|
Clyde |
William M. Krusen |
"Agriculture" |
1939 |
wood |
|
Coldwater |
Joep Nicolas |
"Coldwater Activities" |
1942 |
oil on canvas |
|
Crestline |
Gifford Beal |
"The Crossroads - Crestline" |
1943 |
oil on canvas |
|
Crooksville |
Thomas G. Lo Medico |
"Potter" |
1939 |
terra-cotta relief |
|
Dennison |
Edmund J. Sawyer |
"Passenger Pigeon" |
1940 |
oil on canvas |
|
East
Liverpool |
Roland Schweinsburg |
"Old Bennett Pottery Plant" |
no date |
mural |
|
|
Rolf Stoll |
"Early East Palestine and R. Rhett Chamberlain's Post Office and Warehouse" |
1937 |
oil on canvas |
|
|
Roland Schweinsburg |
"Van Ausdal's Trading Post" |
1939 |
oil on canvas |
|
Fairborn (formerly Osborn) |
Henry Simon |
"Wright Brothers in Ohio" |
1941 |
oil on canvas |
|
Gambier |
Norris W. Rahming |
"Bishop P. Chase Selects Site of Kenyon College" |
1943 |
oil on canvas |
|
Geneva |
William Sommer |
"Rural Homestead" |
1939 |
oil on canvas |
|
Georgetown |
Richard Zoellner |
"Tobacco Harvest" |
1938 |
oil on canvas |
|
Girard |
John E. Costigan |
"Workers of the Soil" |
1938 |
mural (destroyed) |
|
|
Wendell Jones |
"First Pulpit in Granville" |
1938 |
oil on canvas |
|
Hamilton |
Richard Zoellner |
"Fort Hamilton," "Agriculture," and "Industries of Hamilton" |
1934 |
mural (funded by TRAP) six panels |
|
Hubbard |
Hubert Mesibov |
"Steel Industry" |
1941 |
oil on canvas |
|
Leetonia |
Lenore Thomas |
"Industries and Agriculture of Leetonia" |
1941 |
terra-cotta relief |
|
Loudonville |
Rudolf Henn |
"the Mailman" |
1938 |
plaster |
|
Louisville |
Herschel Levit |
"Farm and Mill" |
1941 |
tempera |
|
McConnellsville |
Sally F. Haley |
"Mail - The Connecting Link" |
1938 |
oil on canvas |
|
Marysville |
James Egleson |
"The Farmer" |
1940 |
fresco |
|
|
Rudolph Scheffler |
"Communication" |
1938 |
oil on canvas |
|
Medina |
Richard Zoellner |
"Gathering the Apple Crop" |
1938 |
oil on canvas (destroyed) |
|
Miamisburg |
Leo Schulemowitz |
"Indian and Trader" |
1942 |
wood relief |
|
Middleport |
Clara Fasano |
"The Family" |
1939 |
plaster relief |
|
|
Leonard Ahneman |
"Harvest, the Annal of America" |
1941 |
oil on canvas |
|
|
Julius Wyhof |
"Pioneering to Progress" |
1938 |
oil on canvas |
|
Newcomerstown |
Cesare Stea |
"Men and Machines" |
1939 |
plaster bas-relief |
|
New Concord |
Clyde Singer |
"Skaters" |
1941 |
oil on canvas |
|
New Lexington |
Isabel Bishop |
"Great Men Came from the Hills" |
1938 |
oil on canvas |
|
New London |
Lloyd R. Ney |
"New London Facets" |
1940 |
oil on canvas |
|
Oak Harbor |
Clarence Zuelch |
"Early Oak Harbor" |
1940 |
oil on canvas |
|
Orville |
Aldo Lazzarini |
"Judge Smith Orr and Robert Taggard Planning the New Settlement of Orville - 1852" |
1937 |
oil on canvas |
|
Paulding |
Charles Umlauf |
"Industry" |
1940 |
carved mahogany bas-relief |
|
Perrysburg |
Glenn M. Shaw |
"Building of Fort Meigs 1813" |
1942 |
oil on canvas |
|
Pomeroy |
Seth M. Velsey |
"Coal" and "Salt" |
1940 |
wood reliefs |
|
Portsmouth |
Clarence Carter |
"Characteristic Local Scenes in Portsmouth" |
1938 |
oil on canvas, |
|
Portsmouth |
Richard Zoellner |
"Waterfront" and "Coal Barges" |
1937 |
oil on canvas |
|
Ravenna |
Clarence Carter |
"Early Ravenna" |
1936 |
oil on canvas |
|
Springfield |
H. H. Wessel |
"Printing in Springfield" and manufacture of farm implements |
1937 |
mural |
|
Struthers |
W. Bimel Kehm |
"Citizens" |
1940 |
plaster |
|
Sylvania |
Melik Finkle |
"Tribolites" |
1940 |
plaster relief |
|
Tipp City |
Herman Zimmerman |
"Construction of Miami-Erie Canal in Miami City" |
1940 |
tempera |
|
Upper Sandusky |
Alois Fabry |
"The Mail" |
1937 |
oil on canvas |
|
Wadsworth |
F. Thornton Martin |
"They Came as Wadsworth's First Settlers after the War of 1812" |
1938 |
oil on canvas |
|
Wapakoneta |
Joseph Limarzi |
"Wapakoneta and American History" |
1937 |
mural |
|
Warren |
Glenn M. Shaw |
"Romance of Steel, Old" and "Romance of Steel, Modern" |
1938 |
oil on canvas |
|
|
Jack J. Greitzer |
"Cooperative Planning and Development of Wauseon" |
1938 |
oil on canvas |
|
Waverly |
Roy Best |
"Arrival of Packet" |
1942 |
oil on canvas |
|
Westerville |
Olive Nuhfer |
"The Daily Mail" |
1937 |
oil on canvas |
|
Willard |
Mitchell Jamieson |
"The Roundhouse" |
1941 |
oil on canvas |
|
Willoughby |
Sterling B. Smeltzer |
"White Man's First Sight of Lake Erie" |
1938 |
oil on canvas (missing?) |
|
Woodsfield |
Joseph Stott |
"The Clearing" |
1941 |
wood |
|
Worthington |
Vernon T. Carlock |
"Scioto Company Settler" |
c. 1939 |
terra-cotta relief |
|
Yellow Springs |
Axel Horn |
"Yellow Springs - Preparation for Lifework" |
1941 |
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
© 2005 Nancy Lorance
All Rights Reserved.