Description: Photograph of "The Wright Brothers in Ohio" painted by Henry Simon in 1941. The painting is located in a post office in Fairborn, Ohio in Greene County. Photographed by Connie Girard in 1988. The photo is from the Ohio Post Office Artwork Collection, AV 48. The collection represents thirty murals or plaster reliefs installed in twenty-five Ohio post offices between 1937 and 1943. In 1988, Connie Girard photographed the artwork. Photos were published in the article “Not By Bread Alone, Post Office Art of the New Deal.” Timeline. June-July 1989, p. 2-19 by Gerald Markowitz and Marlene Park. In 1932, when Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected President he promised Americans a "New Deal" and created public works programs to provide jobs for the millions of unemployed people, including artists. Ten thousand unknown and established artists were commissioned by the government to create murals, paintings, photographs, posters, prints and sculpture. The goal was not only to employ artists, but also to bring fine art into the daily lives of all people. The Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) was funded for six months in 1933 – 1934. The PWAP was succeeded by the Treasury Department’s Section of Painting and Sculpture. Organized in 1934 the Section of Painting and Sculpture operated until 1943. Under the auspices of this organization sixty-six new Ohio post offices received artwork. The majority of the post offices were located in small towns. Post offices were chosen as a location for artwork because, particularly in small towns, they were centers of community activity. Most of the painted murals or murals in plaster relief created are realistic images reflecting the history, common activities or major industries of the communities in which the post offices are located. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: av48_b2_f17_01
Subjects: Post office stations and branches--Ohio--Photographs; Public art--Ohio--Photographs; Public Works of Art Project (United States); New Deal art
Places: Fairborn (Ohio); Greene County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of "The Wright Brothers in Ohio" painted by Henry Simon in 1941. The painting is located at a post office in Fairborn, Ohio in Greene County. Photographed by Connie Girard in 1988. The photo is from the Ohio Post Office Artwork Collection, AV 48. The collection represents thirty murals or plaster reliefs installed in twenty-five Ohio post offices between 1937 and 1943. In 1988, Connie Girard photographed the artwork. Photos were published in the article “Not By Bread Alone, Post Office Art of the New Deal.” Timeline. June-July 1989, p. 2-19 by Gerald Markowitz and Marlene Park. In 1932, when Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected President he promised Americans a "New Deal" and created public works programs to provide jobs for the millions of unemployed people, including artists. Ten thousand unknown and established artists were commissioned by the government to create murals, paintings, photographs, posters, prints and sculpture. The goal was not only to employ artists, but also to bring fine art into the daily lives of all people. The Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) was funded for six months in 1933 – 1934. The PWAP was succeeded by the Treasury Department’s Section of Painting and Sculpture. Organized in 1934 the Section of Painting and Sculpture operated until 1943. Under the auspices of this organization sixty-six new Ohio post offices received artwork. The majority of the post offices were located in small towns. Post offices were chosen as a location for artwork because, particularly in small towns, they were centers of community activity. Most of the painted murals or murals in plaster relief created are realistic images reflecting the history, common activities or major industries of the communities in which the post offices are located. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: av48_b2_f17_02
Subjects: Post office stations and branches--Ohio--Photographs; Public art--Ohio--Photographs; Public Works of Art Project (United States); New Deal art
Places: Fairborn (Ohio); Greene County (Ohio)