Art For Morale



Canvas mural, "Postman in Storm," is located in Independence, IA.
First installed in 1938 and restored in 2000.
Used with the permission of the United States Postal Service®. All rights reserved.

One of the many beautiful murals located in Post Offices throughout all 50 of the United States. As part of the New Deal, between 1934 and 1943, the Postal Service commissioned 1,200 murals and 300 sculptures.

Produced under the Treasury Department's Section of Painting, unlike the Works Progress Administration Art Project that was directed toward providing economic relief, this art was placed to help boost the morale of people suffering the effects of the Great Depression.

Dallan Wordekemper is a USPS Federal Preservation Officer. Since he joined the Postal Service in 2003, Wordekemper has repaired or restored more than 200 of these murals at post offices.

"These are unique murals for the communities and they stay in the communities," Wordekemper said.

FederalNewsRadio.com recently reported that Wordekemper holds one of the cool jobs in government.
http://www.federalnewsradio.com/667/2708177/Cool-Jobs-The-Mural-Preservationist

For information about postal guidelines for photographing New Deal Art in postal facilities view:
http://about.usps.com/doing-business/rights-permissions/new-deal-art.htm