Depression Era Post Office Murals Deliver

By Deborah Jackson
      RBHS President
     In the Redondo Beach Post Office lobby, located at Catalina Avenue just west of Pacific Coast Highway, is a five-panel, three mural depiction of early Redondo Beach life painted in 1937.
     This collection of murals was part of a Franklin Delano Roosevelt New Deal economic recovery program beginning in 1934. The US Treasury Department's Section of Painting and Sculpture (later re-named Section of Fine Arts, commonly know as "the Section") was established to transform the federal buildings and post offices into a democratic art gallery. These post office murals are often mistaken for WPA art (a similar program administered by the Works Progress Administration). Headed by Edward Bruce, a former lawyer, businessman, and artist, the Section's main function was to select art of high quality to decorate public buildings.
     This program marked the federal government's first big, direct investment in cultural development to secure suitable art of the best quality available for the enrichment of public buildings. By providing paintings and sculpture in public buildings, the art was made accessible to all people. Post offices were located in virtually every community and available for viewing by all postal patrons—which made post office murals a truly democratic art form. The artists for this program were chosen by competition: 190 competitions were held; entries included more than 40,000 sketches by some 15,000 artists.
     The murals were restricted in subject matter to three general themes: American history, the current American scene, or postal history. During its nine year life, it employed nearly 850 artists and commissioned 1,371 murals, all as part of an effort to reinforce ideals that Americans treasured and felt were threatened during the Depression. The Section of Fine Arts was disbanded as a result of America's entrance into World War II.
     The murals in the Redondo Beach Post Office are oil on canvas painted by artist, Paul Starrett Sample (1896-1974) in 1937. Mr. Sample was assisted by artists Jean Swiggett and Ivan Bartlett. It is a collection of three paintings on five panels. The paintings are titled, "Fishing from Redondo Dock," "Sheep Farming and Ocean near Redondo," and "Excursion Train and Picnickers in the Nineties."
     These murals were in the original Redondo Beach Post Office until 1977 when the building was raised. Restoration of the murals in 1980 was carried out by Tatyana Thompson and Myrna Saxe.