Tennessee Post Office Murals

Tennessee Post Office Murals dives deeper into the particulars, including how the murals were developed by the artists. The correspondence and letters created during this time provide a fascinating glimpse of our nation's history. The author's research reveals the efforts of the government and local communities during this time. Not every community was thrilled with the idea of the subject matter or money spent on artwork for their local post office building. The murals were installed in small communities throughout Tennessee on purpose. They were meant to bring significant art to everyday Americans. This is public art and the post office was the most public of places during this era. Packed with full color images, Tennessee Post Office Murals celebrates these wonderful pieces of art as they exist today.

The United States government got into the art business when it instituted a series of programs to keep artists working during the Depression years. Tennessee received its fair share, and most of the original thirty are still in existence. A few have been moved to different locations, but the author notes that most of the murals “are still on that same wall in the same small post office in that same small town where they were placed so long ago.” Unfortunately, many people are not aware of these murals—even in the areas where they are located. Written for the purpose of enhancing the knowledge of Tennesseans about the murals found in their post offices, this book will be of interest to artists and historians as well. Hull has included numerous photographs along with his descriptions of each mural and its composition, the mural’s relation to history, and a biographical sketch of each artist.

Tennessee Post Office Mural Guidebook: This book guides the reader to the location and status of post offices that received New Deal murals during the Great Depression. This guidebook revels the twenty-eight towns which received them, the title, the artist who created the murals and resources for further reading. It is the travel companion to Tennessee Post Office Murals.

The united states government commissioned over 1,100 murals for the embellishment of post offices nationwide. Wisconsin received 35 of these murals. After nearly 85 years, the story of their existence is elusive and often overlooked. Gates's research of the correspondence between the artists and government tells the stories of how the murals were developed and eventually installed in small towns throughout Wisconsin. Wisconsin Post Office Murals is packed with fascinating details: 130 full-color images of the murals 70 images of buildings and cornerstones Full-color map with the location of each town The history and story of each mural Written to educate and promote these wonderful Depression-era works of art and buildings, Wisconsin Post Office Murals is a must-have for any New Deal, history, or post office enthusiast. If you've ever been to any of the 35 post offices written about here and asked yourself, Why is there a mural in the lobby or Who is the artist who painted the mural on the wall, this is the book for you.

The indelible stamp of the New Deal can be seen across American in the public works projects that modernized the country even as they provided employment during the Great Depression. Tennessee, in particular, benefited from the surge in federal construction. The New Deal not only left the state with many public buildings and schools that are still in active use, but is conservation and reclamation efforts also changed the lives of Tennesseans for generations to come. In Tennessee's New Deal Landscape, Caroll Van West examines over 250 historic sites created from 1933 to 1942: courthouses, post offices, community buildings, schools, and museums, along with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Cherokee National Forest, and the dams and reservoirs of the Tennessee Valley Authority. He describes the significant and impact of each project and provides maps to guide readers to the sites described. West discusses architectural styles that are often difficult to identity, and his lively narrative points out some of the paradoxes of New Deal projects-such as the proliferation of leisure parks during the nation's darkest hours. In highlighting these projects, he shows that Tennessee owes much not only to TVA but also to many other agencies and individuals who left their mark on the landscape through roads, levees, and reforested hillsides as well as buildings. An invaluable resource for travelers as well as scholars, this book reveals a legacy of historic treasures that are well worth preserving. The Author: Carroll Van West is projects manager for the Center of Historic Preservation at Middle Tennessee State University. The author of Tennessee's Historic Landscapes, he most recently edited the volumes Tennessee History: The Land, the People, and the Culture and the Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. He is also senior editor of the Tennessee Historic Quarterly.

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