New Deal buildings or New Deal murals or artwork.

Homewood Illinois Post Office

September 6, 2014 By David W. Gates Jr.

ADDRESS: 1921 Ridge Road, Homewood, Illinois, 60430
ARTIST: Maurine Montgomery (Gibbs)
TITLE: The Letter
MEDIUM: Wood (relief)
STATUS: The Homewood post office is still an active, operating facility and the relief can be viewed by interested members of the public. It resides in the lobby on the wall above the postmaster’s door.
YEAR: 1940

Welcome to the Homewood Illinois post office. When I first set out to write and document post offices I was only aware of murals. So needless to say you could imagine my surprise when I discovered other types of art. The Homewood Illinois post office is great example of this. There is a wonderful wood relief in the lobby. After performing a little more research, I wanted to see if for myself. So I packed up my car and headed out for another road trip in May of this year.

Sadly, I found the sidewalk in front of the building under construction. As you know I prefer to get unobstructed front and center photos of each building when I can. Unfortunately, this one has yellow tape and orange cones in view. Luckily Homewood is close enough I may have to visit again.

When viewed in person the wood carving appears to be a plaster cast. The pictures I viewed online certainly did not represent it well. I hope the images you find below give you a better idea of the beauty of this pieces. It was nice to photographs something other than a mural. It also appears to be a bit dusty on top. I wonder what it would take to shine it up a bit?

What do you think of the Homewood artwork? Did you know the name of the work? Do you know anything else about the artists? I wonder with the name of Gibb if they might be related to musical band the Bee Gee’s. Just something to think about.

Thanks,

David W. Gates Jr.

Homewood Illinois Post Office Art 60430 Top

Homewood Illinois Post Office Art 60430 Detail

Homewood Illinois Post Office Art 60430 Bottom

Homewood Illinois Post Office 60430 Cornerstone

Sources

Personal visit on 5/10/2014 by David W. Gates Jr.
Illinois Post Office Mural Guidebook
United States Postal Service
Democratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal: [Hardcover] Marlene Park, Gerald E. Markowitz

Bluffton Ohio Post Office

August 9, 2014 By David W. Gates Jr.

ADDRESS: 132 South Main Street, Bluffton, Ohio, 45817
ARTIST: Sante Graziani
TITLE: Joseph Deford and His Friends Building the First Cabin in Bluffton
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (mural)
STATUS: The Bluftton 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: 1941

When people ask me what my favorite post office is it’s really hard to answer. I admit, the New Deal buildings are among my favorites but to me it goes deeper than this. What I constitute as my favorite post office is everything surrounding the entire visit. What stands out for me, as a favorite, or what I would call, “quality” visit, would be the photograph’s I’m able to get.

The visit to Bluffton is a perfect example of this. The sunlight sort of just glowed from the orange brick of the building making a great photograph. The clear deep blue sky in the background adds the perfect touch to the photograph. Take all this and add a great mural and you have what I like to refer to as “one of my favorites”. So to all those who ask me the question, “What is your favorite”, it’s the ones I get a great photograph of. See it’s not always about the building, or the content. Sometimes its just that I nailed the perfect shot.

Thanks,

David W. Gates Jr.

Bluffton Ohio Post Office Mural 45817 Center

Bluffton Ohio Post Office Mural 45817 Left Side

Bluffton Ohio Post Office Mural 45817 Full

Bluffton Ohio Post Office 45817 Cornerstone

Bluffton Ohio Post Office Mural 45817 Right Side

Bluffton Ohio Post Office Mural 45817 Detail

Bluffton Ohio Post Office Mural 45817 Signature

Sources

Personal visit on 7/27/2013 by David W. Gates Jr.
Bluffton Forever: https://www.blufftonforever.com/post/the-story-of-our-post-office-mural
United States Postal Service
(affiliate link) Democratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal: [Hardcover] Marlene Park, Gerald E. Markowitz

Flora Illinois Post Office

July 19, 2014 By David W. Gates Jr.

ADDRESS: 312 East North Avenue, Flora, Illinois, 62839
ARTIST: Davenport Griffen
TITLE: Good News and Bad
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (mural)
STATUS: The Flora 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: 1937

Welcome to another Illinois post office. Today we head a little southeast to the town of Flora. I’ll be honest I’m not quite sure what to make of this mural. I’m delighted to be able to see this in person and I’m happy to see it has not been destroyed or modified as far as I can tell.

Another great building that has a plane, train, and ship on the front facade of the building. We have seen this on many post offices through-out Illinois and other states. The Flora post office has also been named in honor of Robert T. Ferguson. Here is what I’ve discovered after performing a little research.

WHEREAS, In honor of his many years of service to the U.S. Postal Service and to his community, the post office building in Flora was renamed the Robert T. Ferguson Post Office Building; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, by the house of representative of the ninety-fourth general assembly of the state of Illinois, that we congratulate Robert T. Ferguson on the occasion of the dedication of the Robert T. Ferguson Post Office Building; …

In regards to the mural, to me it seems a little unfinished. What I mean is; there is lack of detail that tends to make me feel as though it wasn’t completed. Take for instance the two people sitting on the far right of the mural. The faces are missing mouths. It’s almost like the artist was in a hurry and decided to omit the details.

Another observation is the lack of detail in the clothing of the characters in the painting. I would expect to see some sort of pattern for the fabric of the shirts, pants and dresses. However, the artists omits these and uses plain clothing. Not even buttons or collars are noticeable. While these may be intentional, I’m left wondering if this was the artists first painting or just his “Style”. Either way, it leaves the viewer questing and maybe that’s the point too.

Another though is that maybe these two characters the ones he was trying to convey the “Bad” news. Maybe by not painting the mouths on the two people he is conveying a look of dismay or disappointment. It’s hard to tell but these are some of the thoughts that went throughout my head as I was observing and photographing it. I have been a bit critical in my review of this one, but rest assured it is still a treasure and Flora is lucky to have it.

What do you think of this mural? What jumps out to you when you view it? What do you see of don’t see that leaves you asking questions?

Thanks,

David W. Gates Jr.