Why was the post office mural built?

During the Great Depression, another time of national crisis, postal stations were used to inspire citizens. Public art in federal buildings, including post offices, was created by artists employed by the United States government to beautify the country.

Are post office murals real stamps?

PIGGOTT, AR — Post Office lobby artwork painted in the 1930s and 1940s was celebrated today with the issuance of the Post Office Murals Forever stamps. The U.S. Postal Service dedicated the stamps today during a first-day-of-issue ceremony at the Piggott Main Post Office in Piggott, AR.

Why were post offices chosen for the location of New Deal murals?

In addition to putting artists to work, the post office murals were seen as a way to boost general morale during hardships of the Great Depression. Many of the murals feature historical depictions of the places in which they reside.

What kind of art was made during the Great Depression?

Social realism, also known as socio-realism, became an important art movement during the Great Depression in the 1930s. Social realism depicted social and racial injustice, and economic hardship through unvarnished pictures of life’s struggles, and often portrayed working-class activities as heroic.

What is a WPA mural?

Artists employed in the Mural Division were assigned projects in schools, hospitals, prisons, airports, public housing, and recreational facilities, and altogether produced over 2500 murals. …

What is New Deal art?

The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. Under national director Holger Cahill, it was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and the largest of the New Deal art projects.

How do post office stamps work?

A small adhesive piece of paper of specified value issued by a postal authority to be affixed to a letter or a parcel to indicate the amount of postage paid. Postage stamps are the most commonly used stamps and have a fixed amount of postage noted on them. Also, postage stamps are sold in a number of different forms.

Where was the Works Progress Administration located?

Works Progress Administration

Agency overview
Headquarters	New York City
Employees	8.5 million 1935–1943 3.3 million in November 1938 (peak)
Annual budget	$1.3 billion (1935)
Key document	Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935

How many artists were unemployed during the Great Depression?

It reached one-third of the country’s estimated 10,000 unemployed artists and the Federal Art Project reached still further.

What is WPA style?

The posters are drawn in the classic Works Progress Administration (WPA) style, capitalizing on the sparing hopefulness born in the throes of the Great Depression. Minimal and evocative, each piece juxtaposes the original WPA poster of a national park with a haunting projection of what the park will look like by 2050.

Why did the WPA fund art?

In an effort to provide economic relief to citizens who were having trouble finding work President Franklin Delano Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration. Several months later, a subdivision of the WPA called the Federal Art Project was developed in order to assist struggling artists.

When was the first post office mural made?

United States post office murals were produced in the United States from 1934 to 1943, through commissions from the Procurement Division of the United States Department of the Treasury.

What are the murals on the Kansas post office?

Three panels: the postman’s creed, left panel; the Iowa state motto, center panel; the state song of Iowa, right panel. A number of Kansas post offices were listed on the National Register on basis of their murals, as part of a study of “Kansas Post Offices with Artwork, 1936-1942”.

When was the post office mural in Milford NH painted?

Completed in 1941; cleaned and restored in 1981. An oil-on-canvas mural entitled “Lumberman Log-Rolling” was painted for the Milford, New Hampshire post office in 1940 by Philip Von Saltza. Mr. Von Saltza received $700 for his efforts according to the project’s contract dated April 15, 1940.

Who was the winner of the post office mural competition?

A competition for one mural to be painted in a post office in each of the forty-eight states (plus Washington, D.C.) was held in November 1939 at the Corcoran Gallery. The jury selecting the winners was composed of four artists: Maurice Sterne (Chairman), Henry Varnum Poor, Edgar Miller, and Olin Dows.

Why was the post office mural built? During the Great Depression, another time of national crisis, postal stations were used to inspire citizens. Public art in federal buildings, including post offices, was created by artists employed by the United States government to beautify the country. Are post office murals real stamps? PIGGOTT, AR — Post…