Mural’s future looking brighter

Mount Gilead post office restores grime-covered Depression-era art

Saturday, April 08, 2006

Dana Wilson

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

MOUNT GILEAD, Ohio — Perched atop scaffolding inside the local post office, Elizabeth Kendall stretched her arm across the mural and delicately scrubbed.

 

Each swipe of her cotton tuft was a trip back in time, to an era when a government check could keep you off the bread line and public art brought a sense of hope to small towns.

Interesting to note that the half of the mural that's been restored depicts a streamlined locomotive and what looks like two railroad postal workers picking up the mail at the depot. Hi-tech delivery back in the day.

 

I've seen a few of these restored WPA murals and they are a wonderful glimpse into our past. Classic works of art.

 

Too bad we couldn't revive the WPA to put more people back to work that need a job.  A lot of important and needed public works projects got done because of it.  I used to have a concrete sidewalk near my home that was built by the WPA.  It even had the initials "WPA" stamped in the concrete.

Good news indeed.  Has anyone ever posted a pic of the exterior of the Mt. Gilead Post Office on here? 

 

A little of subject, but....I was in Marion yesterday delivering some right of way plans to the City Prosecutor's office which is in an old bank building next to the County Courthouse.  The interior was an interesting mix of old and new.  They erected walls inside the bank to create office space, but the walls only go 3/4 the way up to the ceiling so you can still see the old architectural features of the bank.

Good news indeed.  Has anyone ever posted a pic of the exterior of the Mt. Gilead Post Office on here? 

 

Since I'm not planning on visiting my parents, in Morrow County, anytime soon, I nominate PresOhio to go photograph the Mt. Gilead Post Office.

Ugh....thanks for the nomination ... however for a rather grainy shot of the Mount Gilead post office, visit this link:

 

http://www.postmarks.org/pop/0900/0964.htm

Ugh....thanks for the nomination ... however for a rather grainy shot of the Mount Gilead post office, visit this link:

 

http://www.postmarks.org/pop/0900/0964.htm

I hope it hasn't changed in 40 years. (Postmarks photo taken back in 1968)

You shouldn't had said you enjoy visiting Mt. Gilead in other threads then.  :-D  :-P

First Cleaning Reveals Vibrant Color in Bridgeport Post Office Mural (w/ photo)

By JOSELYN KING, Wheeling News-Register, 6/26/2007

(Can a moderator please rename the thread to something more widespread -- such as 'Post office murals' or something? Thanks!)

 

The historic 67-year-old mural at the Bridgeport Post Office is receiving its first cleaning. Paint conservators out of Chicago have been working to clean the "Ohio Harvest," a mural painted in 1940 by Richard Kenah. About 1,300 murals were painted for post offices across the United States as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal Administration Program, and at least 200 have been lost, according to the Parma Conservation. The U.S. Postal Service is seeking to restore many of the paintings in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the New Deal programs.

Waverly post office mural to undergo restoration

Pike County native Roy Best created artwork in 1942

Chillicothe Gazette, March 24, 2008

 

The Waverly post office’s historic Ohio & Erie Canal mural is headed for a cleaning and some preservation work.

 

As part of the postal service’s commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the New Deal, the mural, “Arrival of the Packet — The Wave,” will be cleaned beginning April 22. Noted art conservator Elizabeth Kendall of Parma Conservation in Chicago and her associate will erect scaffolding in the lobby and proceed to work inch by inch to meticulously restore the mural’s oil painting and its canvas to the original vibrancy.

Waverly Post Office mural to be restored

Portsmouth Daily Times, April 20, 2008

 

WAVERLY - The Waverly Post Office's historic Ohio and Erie Canal mural, "Arrival of the Packet - The Wave," will be restored to its original vibrancy thanks to noted art conservator Elizabeth Kendall of Parma Conservation of Chicago.

 

Through the generosity of the U.S. Postal Service's 75th anniversary of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal program, the mural will be cleaned and conserved. The mural is a lively record of yesteryear when the Ohio and Erie Canal was a principal means of transport.

Preservationists Encourage Appreciation of Post Office Murals

Portsmouth Daily Times, January 3, 2009

 

Through the generosity of the United States Postal Service’s celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the New Deal, and with concern for preservation of commissioned post office murals, many murals were cleaned and conserved this past year, including the murals at the Portsmouth Post Office.

 

Like Waverly’s Post Office to the north, the Portsmouth Post Office murals were among those cleaned and conserved. The meticulous restoration work was completed this past summer by conservationists from the renowned firm of Parma Conservation in Chicago. Working inch by inch, the conservationists restored the Carter murals to their original vibrancy.