List of United States post office murals
Location Mural title Artist Date Notes
Elkins Forest Service Stevan Dohanos 1939 tempura
Elkins Mining Village Stevan Dohanos 1939 tempura
Fayetteville The Moners Nixford Baldwin 1939 oil on canvas
Holidays Cove Captain Bilderbrook 's and John Schoolcraft 's Expedition from Holidays Cove to Fort Wheeling in 1777 Charles Chapman 1940
Lewisburg Old Time Camp Meeting Robert Franklin Gates 1940 tempura
Mannington Landscape at Frogtown Richard Zoellner 1942 oil on canvas
Marlinton Mill Point Edwin Dorsey Doniphan 1939 oil on canvas
Marlinton Past Visions the Future Edwin Dorsey Doniphan 1939 oil on canvas
Mount Hope Mining Michael Lensen 1942 oil on canvas
St. Marys St. Mary 's and the Industries of the Region Alexander Clayton 1939 oil on canvas
Salem Visions of the Development of Salem Berni Glasgow 1942 oil on canvas
West Virginia
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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. The principal objective was to secure artwork that met high artistic standards for public buildings, where it was accessible to all people. The murals were intended to boost the morale of the American people suffering from the effects of the Depression by depicting uplifting subjects the people knew and loved. Murals produced through the Treasury Department's Section of Painting and Sculpture (1934-43) were funded as a part of the cost of the construction of new post offices, with 1% of the cost set aside for artistic enhancements. Murals were commissioned through competitions open to all artists in the United States. Almost 850 artists were commissioned to paint 1371 murals, most of which were installed in post offices; 162 of the artists were women and three were African American. The Treasury Relief Art Project (1935-38), which provided artistic decoration for existing Federal buildings, produced a smaller number of post office murals. TRAP was established with funds from the Works Progress Administration. The Section supervised the creative output of TRAP, and selected a master artist for each project. Assistants were then chosen by the artist from the rolls of the WPA Federal Art Project. Artists were asked to paint in an American scene style, depicting ordinary citizens in a realistic manner. Abstract and modern art styles were discouraged.