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
New Deal/WPA Art in Minnesota – 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.