History, Natural History & the Arts
“Men Working in Slate Quarry,” the 1939 Works Progress Administration (WPA) funded mural displayed at the Slate Valley Museum in Granville, Washington County, NY is as good an example as you will find of “Art for the People.”
The subject of the museum’s current exhibition “One Painting, Many Stories,” explores many of the artistic, cultural and political contexts within which the mural was created. [Read more…] about Granville’s WPA Mural of Working in a Slate Quarry
The Brooks-Park Home & Studios in East Hampton on Long Island is an important physical link to the Abstract Expressionist Art movement and the artists who made it their home.
Artists James Brooks and Charlotte Park were at the forefront of the Abstract Expressionist art movement of the 1940s and 50s. James Brooks in particular is especially is well known for painting the largest site-specific Works Progress Administration (WPA) wall mural, in the landmarked interior of the Marine Terminal at New York’s La Guardia Airport. [Read more…] about Under Threat: James Brooks / Charlotte Park Home & Studios, East Hampton
This week on The Historians Podcast, David Brooks, education director at Schoharie Crossing State Historic site in Fort Hunter, takes a look at life on the wild side of the Erie Canal with tales about the Kilboys, including balladeer Tom Kilboy. [Read more…] about Tom Kilboy: Balladeer of the Erie Canal
The Veterans Memorial Fountain has stood in Geneva, New York’s Pulteney Park for more than 80 years. It is a gray marble sculpture of a full-size female form, on one knee, thrusting a Hoplite sword into the ground, allegorically symbolizing the cessation of hostilities.
The sculpture, created by Jean MacKay Henrich (1909-2002) and entitled “Our Lady of Peace,” is mounted on a pink marble base and is surrounded by a stepped pool, also of pink marble, from which fountains of water issue upward. The entire Veterans Monument in Pulteney Park was designed by noted architect and professional photographer, Thomas Lyon White of Geneseo, and was partially funded by the Works Project Administration (WPA) during the Great Depression.
The design plan was to symbolically memorialize Veterans of all struggles, rather than any particular person or campaign. The architect and sculptor worked together to develop a simple yet warm tone in the memorial by which Geneva would preserve forever the love of country and sacrifice made by those who did not return home. [Read more…] about Geneva, NY’s Veterans Memorial Fountain: A History