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Plano Illinois Post Office

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Plano IL Post Office 60545
Plano IL Post Office 60545

ADDRESS: 102 North Center Street, Plano, Illinois, 60545
ARTIST: Perterpaul Ott
TITLE: Harvest
MEDIUM: Wood (carvings)
STATUS: The Plano post office is still an active, operating facility, and the carving can be viewed by interested members of the public. They reside in the lobby on the wall above the bulletin boards.
YEAR: 1941

Were you looking for a mural? Did you think to yourself, “oh cool another old period looking building”, I bet they have a cool mural? Guess again. This one does have art, but just not a mural. It happens to have not ONE but TWO wood carvings. Pretty cool considering there are more murals than wood carvings that were commissioned during the depression era.

I like the change things up so viewing, photographing art other than a murals was a real treat. I love the look and appearance of the wood carvings. I wondering if they have been treated, if so with what? I’m glad they have not painted over or removed. What are your impressions of the wood carvings? Do you know the artist or any interesting facts about them? Please comment below.

Thanks,

David W. Gates Jr.

Plano Illinois Post Office 60545
Plano Illinois Post Office 60545
Plano Illinois Post Office Art 60545 Left Side Top
Plano Illinois Post Office Art 60545 Left Side Signature
Plano Illinois Post Office Art 60545 Left Side Full
Plano Illinois Post Office 60545
Plano Illinois Post Office 60545
Plano Illinois Post Office Art 60545 Left Side Bottom
Plano Illinois Post Office Art 60545 Left Side Center
Plano Illinois Post Office Art 60545 Left Side Detail
Plano Illinois Post Office Art 60545 Left Side Detail
Plano Illinois Post Office Art 60545 Lobby
Plano Illinois Post Office Art 60545 Right Side Full
Plano Illinois Post Office Art 60545 Right Side Signature
Plano Illinois Post Office Art 60545 Right Side Top
Plano Illinois Post Office Art 60545 Right Side Full
Plano Illinois Post Office Art 60545 Right Side Center
Plano Illinois Post Office Art 60545 Right Side Full Bottom
Plano Illinois Post Office Art 60545 Right Side Detail
Plano Illinois Post Office Art 60545 Right Side Detail
Plano Illinois Post Office Art 60545 Right Side Detail
Plano Illinois Post Office Art 60545 Wood Carvings

“Used with the permission of the United States Postal Service®. All rights reserved.”

Sources

La Follette Tennessee Post Office

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La Follette TN Post Office 37766
La Follette TN Post Office 37766

ADDRESS: 1221 E Central Ave., La Follette, Tennessee, 37766
ARTIST: Dahlov Ipcar
TITLE: On the Shores of the Lake
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (mural)
STATUS: The mural no longer reside in the original building. It was moved to the newer post office building on Central Ave (Shown here). The mural is on display in the lobby and is accessible to members of the public during business hours.
YEAR: 1939

Welcome to La Follette, Tennessee. I’m trying to remember if we visited this building first or the original building on Tennessee street. Either way when I stepped into the lobby of this newer building I wasn’t expecting to find the mural here. I’m really glad it has been preserved and moved. But it seems out-of-place. I’m trying to decide if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

When the murals were original installed, they were often times installed up hight above the postmasters office door. However, since this one was moved it was installed at a lower level, closer to the floor. The benefit of this, is the observer has a much closer and eye level view of the mural. Patrons are able to get an close look at all the detail. The drawback is that it looks awkward so close to the floor.

Additional notes, when I run into situations like this. Where the building is newer and it has artwork. It becomes difficult to categorize this article. Here is my dilemma. When I initially setup the categories, the “New Deal” category was meant to classify an older building with corner-stone and have been built during this time period. Since this is a newer building, I can’t classify it as “New Deal”. However, this location does have artwork from the this time period. Thus you can see my dilemma when classifying this type of building and article.

What do you think? Were you involve in moving this mural? What were some of the discussions involved in installations of this artwork? Please comment below.

Thanks,

David W. Gates Jr.

La Follette Tennessee Post Office 37766
La Follette Tennessee Post Office 37766
La Follette Tennessee Post Office 37766
La Follette Tennessee Post Office 37766
La Follette Tennessee Post Office Mural 37766 Artist Signature
La Follette Tennessee Post Office Mural 37766 Center
La Follette Tennessee Post Office Mural 37766 Detail
La Follette Tennessee Post Office Mural 37766 Detail
La Follette Tennessee Post Office Mural 37766 Detail
La Follette Tennessee Post Office Mural 37766 Detail
La Follette Tennessee Post Office Mural 37766 Detail
La Follette Tennessee Post Office Mural 37766 Detail
La Follette Tennessee Post Office Mural 37766 Detail
La Follette Tennessee Post Office Mural 37766 Detail
La Follette Tennessee Post Office Mural 37766 Detail
La Follette Tennessee Post Office Mural 37766 Detail
La Follette Tennessee Post Office Mural 37766 Full
La Follette Tennessee Post Office Mural 37766 Left Side
La Follette Tennessee Post Office Mural 37766 Right Side

“Used with the permission of the United States Postal Service®. All rights reserved.”

Sources

Herrin Illinois Post Office

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Herrin Illinois Post Office 62948
Herrin Illinois Post Office 62948

ADDRESS: 200 South Park Avenue, Herrin, Illinois, 62948
ARTIST: Gustaf Dalstrom
TITLE: George Rogers Clark Conferring with Indians near Herrin
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (mural)
STATUS: The Herrin post office is still an active, operating facility, and the mural can be viewed by interested members of the public. It resides in the lobby on the wall above the postmaster’s door.
YEAR: 1940

I made a special trip to visit Herrin, Illinois. If you are looking for a story where the art was almost lost and then recovered and returned to its rightful place, then this is the one you want. I don’t see any reason to re-write what has already been said about this mural. But what I can say is that its one of the great success stories of art being recovered to its original place. This article by the Southern says it all.

When people ask why I do this, Why I travel thousands of miles to see these. This is one reason why, to bring stories like this to life. I’m really excited to learn that I’m not the only one who cares about these treasures.

Thanks,

David W. Gates Jr.

Herrin Illinois Post Office 62948
Herrin Illinois Post Office 62948
Herrin Illinois Post Office 62948
Herrin Illinois Post Office 62948
Herrin Illinois Post Office 62948
Herrin Illinois Post Office 62948
Herrin Illinois Post Office Mural 62948 Artifact
Herrin Illinois Post Office Mural 62948 Artifact
Herrin Illinois Post Office Mural 62948 Detail
Herrin Illinois Post Office Mural 62948 Detail
Herrin Illinois Post Office Mural 62948 Detail
Herrin Illinois Post Office Mural 62948 Detail
Herrin Illinois Post Office Mural 62948 Detail
Herrin Illinois Post Office Mural 62948 Detail
Herrin Illinois Post Office Mural 62948 Full
Herrin Illinois Post Office Mural 62948 Left Side
Herrin Illinois Post Office Mural 62948 Right Side
Herrin Illinois Post Office Mural 62948 Signature
Herrin Illinois Post Office 62948

“Used with the permission of the United States Postal Service®. All rights reserved.”

Sources