If the Mattoon Depot was built during WWI in 1918 it may be possible that the
art work came from the W.P.A. In our post office here in Crystal Springs, MS
the art display is of field workers as this area was known for at that time, in
the 1930's. Below is a little write up about how this came to
be...............Mike

New Deal Art During the Great Depression

On May 6, 1935, the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) was created to help
provide economic relief to the citizens of the United States who were suffering
through the Great Depression. The artistic community had already become inspired
during the 1920s and '30s by the revitalization of the Italian Renaissance
fresco style by the inspired creations of Mexican muralists Diego Rivera, Jose
Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueriros. Certain visionary U.S. politicians
decided to combine the creativity of the new art movements with the values of
the American people. The Federal Art Project was one of the divisions of the
W.P.A. created under Federal Project One. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had
made several attempts prior to the F.A.P. to provide employment for artists on
relief, namely the Public Works of Art Project (P.W.A.P.) which operated from
1933 to 1934 and the Treasury Department Section of Painting and Sculpture which
was created in 1934 after the demise of the P.W.A.P. However, it was the F.A.P.
which provided the widest reach, creating over 5,000 jobs for artists and
producing over 225,000 works of art for the American people.



MATTOON, Ill. (AP) -- Workers at a train depot restoration project in eastern
Illinois recently peeled back a dropped ceiling and found a treasure.
Terry Kennedy of Grunloh Construction says the workers found an old mural above
a doorway leading into what used to be a cafe in the Illinois Central Railroad
Depot in Mattoon.
The mural shows a sailboat on a body of water in front of a mountainous
landscape. The picture is faded in spots and the paint is worn away in others.
The mural may date to World War II.
Thomas French of the Coles County Historical Society says the depot was built in
1918. He doesn't recall seeing the mural in pictures from that time.
The USO once used the depot's cafe to entertain troops waiting for trains.
---
Information from: Mattoon Journal-Gazette, http://www.jg- tc.com




--- In illinoiscentral@yahoogroups.com, Christian G. <timesbeach@...> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> MATTOON, Ill. (AP) -- Workers at a train depot restoration project in eastern
Illinois recently peeled back a dropped ceiling and found a treasure.
> Terry Kennedy of Grunloh Construction says the workers found an old mural
above a doorway leading into what used to be a cafe in the Illinois Central
Railroad Depot in Mattoon.
> The mural shows a sailboat on a body of water in front of a mountainous
landscape. The picture is faded in spots and the paint is worn away in others.
> The mural may date to World War II.
> Thomas French of the Coles County Historical Society says the depot was built
in 1918. He doesn't recall seeing the mural in pictures from that time.
> The USO once used the depot's cafe to entertain troops waiting for trains.
> ---
> Information from: Mattoon Journal-Gazette, http://www.jg-tc.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________
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