• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Post Office Fans

Celebrating our Nation's Post Offices

  • About
    • Start Here
      • Categories Explained
      • Tags Explained
    • Contact
      • Legal
        • Privacy Policy
  • Books
    • Guidebooks
    • Full Mural Books
  • In The Media
  • Blog
  • Resources
    • Recommended Books
    • Recommended Websites
    • Post Office Artifacts
    • Post Office Mural Artists By Name
    • Post Office Mural Artists By State
    • Post Office Cornerstones
    • Blog Resources
  • By Artist
  • By State
  • Bookstore
You are here: Home / Archives for Ethel Spears

Ethel Spears

Post offices that have artwork by the artists Ethel Spears

Wisconsin Post Office Mural Artists

October 18, 2017 By David W. Gates Jr.

Artist Frank Buffmire - Black River Falls Post Office Mural
Artist Frank Buffmire – Black River Falls Post Office Mural

A total of twenty-eight artist created murals in thirty-five Wisconsin Post Office buildings during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Seven of the artist received multiple commissions as noted below. The artist and their awarded sites as listed below.

We have found having a list such as this is convenient when performing research at the National Archives Records and Administration. Any researcher will reveal, that finding information is part of the fun, somethings what you are looking for is catalogued by the artist name. Other times the research materials you need may be cataloged by the city or town, and so on.

Having a list to refer to is helpful on your journey of discovering these wonderful treasures in our nations post offices.

Wisconsin Post Office Mural Artists

  1. Berlin – Raymond Redell*
  2. Black River Falls – Frank Buffmire
  3. Chilton – Charles W Thwaites*
  4. Columbus – Arnold Blanch
  5. De Pere – Lester W Bentley
  6. Edgerton – Vladimir Rousseff*
  7. Elkhorn – Tom Rost*
  8. Fond du Lac – Boris Gilbertson*
  9. Hartford– Ethel Spears
  10. Hayward – Stella E Harlos
  11. Hudson – Ruth Grotenrath
  12. Janesville – Boris Gilbertson*
  13. Kaukauna – Vladimir Rousseff*
  14. Kewaunee – Paul Faulkner
  15. Ladysmith – Elsa Jemne
  16. Lake Geneva – George A Dietrich
  17. Lancaster – Tom Rost*
  18. Mayville – Peter Roiter*
  19. Milwaukee – Frances Foy
  20. Neillsville – John Van Koert
  21. Oconomowoc – Edward Morton
  22. Park Falls – James Waltrous
  23. Plymouth – Charles W Thwaites*
  24. Prairie Du Chien – Jefferson E Greer
  25. Reedsburg – Richard Jansen
  26. Rice Lake – Forest Flower*
  27. Richland Center – Richard Brooks
  28. Shawano – Eugene Higgins
  29. Sheboygan – Schomer Lichtner
  30. Stoughton – Edmund D Lewandoski
  31. Sturgeon Bay – Santos Zingle
  32. Viroqua – Forrest Flower*
  33. Waupaca – Raymond Redell*
  34. Wausau – Gerritt Sinclair
  35. West Bend – Peter Roiter*

There are a total of  28 artist that were commissioned artwork in Wisconsin in regards to post offices.

A few of the artists received multiple commissions and have art in more than one building. The following artists have two or more murals in Wisconsin.

  • Raymond Redell – Berlin and Wapaca
  • Charles W Thwaities – Chilton and Plymouth
  • Vladimir Rousseff – Edgerton and Kaukauna
  • Tom Rost – Elkhorn and Lancaster
  • Boris Gilbertson – Fond du Lac and Janesville
  • Forrest Flower – Rice Lake and Viroqua
  • Peter Rotier – Mayville and West Bend

New Deal Artists Biographies NARA
New Deal Artists Biographies NARA
New Deal Artists Biographies NARA

Sources

  • David W. Gates Jr. on site visits to each location.
  • Wisconsin Post Office Mural Guidebook by David W. Gates Jr.
  • Wisconsin Post Office Murals by David W. Gates Jr.
  • National Archives Records and Administration, College Park Maryland
  • Who was who in American Art, 1564-1975: 400 years of artist in America, Peter H Falk; Audrey M Lewis, Georgia Kuchen, Veronika Roessler, Madison, CT, Mount View Press. 1999.
  • Democratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal: [Hardcover]  Marlene Park, Gerald E. Markowitz

Filed Under: Artist, Artwork, NARA, New Deal, Post Office, Wisconsin Tagged With: Arnold Blanch, Artist, Boris Gilbertson, Charles W Thwaites, Edmund D Lewandowski, Edward Morton, Elsa Jemne, Ethel Spears, Eugene Higgins, Forrest Flower, Frances Foy, Frank Buffmire, George A Dietrich, Gerrit Sinclair, James Watrous, Jefferson E Greer, John Van Koert, Lester W Bentley, NARA, New Deal, Paul Faulkner, Peter Rotier, Raymond Redell, Richard Brooks, Richard Jansen, Ruth Grotenrath, Santos Zingale, Schomer Lichtner, Stella E Harlos, Tom Rost, Walter Vladimir Rousseff, Wisconsin

Former Hartford Wisconsin Post Office

December 22, 2012 By David W. Gates Jr.

Hartford (Former) WI Post Office
Hartford (Former) WI Post Office

ADDRESS: 35 E. Sumner Street Hartford, Wisconsin 53027
ARTIST: Ethel Spears
TITLE: Autumn Wisconsin Landscapes
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (mural)
STATUS: The mural has been transferred to the Schauer Arts Center and is only viewable during business hours.  If visiting the Schauer Center, be sure to call ahead and verify the hours.
YEAR: 1941

Sometimes you just get lucky researching and photographing post offices. When I initially entered the address for the Hartford post office, my GPS brough me to the new Hartford building. I’ll be featuring this one tomorrow so that you may contrast it to this older more distinguished building.

Anyway, when I perform preliminary research looking for murals I just sort of say to myself ok, this one has a mural. Then when I’m out driving around, I enter it into the GPS and off I go. Well, my sources must not been updated as there is now a new post office in Hartford, Wisconsin and this is where my GPS brought me. So naturally when I arrived at the newer building, I was kind of shocked that didn’t find a mural or the older classic style WPA era building.

So what did I do you ask yourself?, Well, I put on my investigative hat on and dug deeper into research mode. I called all my professional contacts, the mayor, my congressman etc. Well, ok not really but that was funny!

Actually I just stopped the next car that drove into the parking lot. A man in a large pickup truck stepped out and I was hopping he was a local. I asked him if he knew where the original post office building was located. Luckily he was familiar with the area and immediately proceeded to give me directions. He also mentioned that a cable company or internet company occupied the building. So at least I knew what to look for. Sure enough I drove over to the building and recognized it right away. It’s the classic square building with staircase in front and stamped corner-stone on the right side.

I took my pictures and proceeded inside to find the mural. When I entered I the lobby I looked right. No mural, not to worry I said to myself then I turned and I looked left. No mural. Sad and curious at this point, I flagged down one of the employees of the business to ask about the building and mural. I was in luck again, as a the gentleman explained they sometimes get visitors interested in the old post office. He also informed me the mural had been moved to the Schauer Arts & Activities Center. Not knowing what this was I had to ask a few more questions and thanked him for his time.  I headed over to the Schauer Arts & Activities Center to find the mural.

When I arrived at the arts center I asked the lady in the ticket booth if the old post office mural was here. She confirmed that it was and allowed me to view and photograph it. She was even kind enough to turn on the lights so that I could get some better photographs. So there you have it folks. If you ever find yourself asking this question? Where is the old Hartford post office mural? Or what happened to the Hartford Post Office Mural? The answer is, It’s at the  Schauer Arts & Activities Center in Hartford Wisconsin.

Thanks,

David W. Gates Jr.

Autumn Wisconsin Landscape by Ethel Spears, photo credit David W. Gates Jr.

Hartford (Former) Wisconsin Post Office
Hartford (Former) Wisconsin Post Office
Hartford (Former) Wisconsin Post Office
Hartford (Former) Wisconsin Post Office Corner Stone
Hartford (Former) Wisconsin Post Office Left Side
Hartford (Former) Wisconsin Post Office Mural Center
Hartford (Former) Wisconsin Post Office Mural Detail
Hartford (Former) Wisconsin Post Office Mural Detail
Hartford (Former) Wisconsin Post Office Mural Detail
Hartford (Former) Wisconsin Post Office Mural Full
Hartford (Former) Wisconsin Post Office Mural Right Side
Hartford (Former) Wisconsin Post Office Mural SignatureSignature

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

Sources

  • Personal visit on 8/17/2012 by David W. Gates Jr.
  • Wisconsin Post Office Murals by David W. Gates Jr.
  • Wisconsin Post Office Mural Guidebook by David W. Gates Jr.
  • (affiliate link) Democratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal: [Hardcover]  Marlene Park, Gerald E. Markowitz
  • Schauer Arts & Activities Center, Hartford  Wisconsin. (https://www.schauercenter.org)
  • Postal Times (Hartford post office mural an interesting history of art – Postal Times)
  • Washington County Insider (VIDEO | Hartford post office mural an interesting history of art (washingtoncountyinsider.com)

Filed Under: Artwork, Cornerstone, Former Post Office, New Deal, Post Office, Wisconsin Tagged With: Artwork, Cornerstone, Ethel Spears, Former Post Office, Mural, New Deal, Post Office, Wisconsin

Primary Sidebar

Buy Me a Coffee

Available NOW!

Indiana Post Office Murals Guidebook Cover
Indiana Post Office Murals Guidebook Cover

Connect with us

  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Get the latest from Post Office Fans

* indicates required
Tennessee Post Office Mural Book Cover
Tennessee Post Office Mural Book Cover
Wisconsin Post Office Murals
Wisconsin Post Office Mural Book Cover

Now Trending on Post Office Fans

  • URC Extra: Kaukauna and De Pere post office murals – Urban Rural Column on Wisconsin Post Office Murals
  • Walt on Wichita Kansas Former Main Post Office – Guest
  • Walt on Douglas Kanas Post Office – Guest

Footer

Search our site

Search Categories

Search Archives

Copyright 2025
Post Office Fans
PO Box 11
Crystal Lake, IL 60039

Donate with PayPay

 

Loading Comments...