The Texas Post Office Murals: Art for the People

Walk into any of sixty post offices or federal buildings in the state of Texas and you may be greeted by a surprising sight: magnificent mural art on the lobby walls.

In the midst of the Great Depression, a program was born that would not only give work to artists but also create beauty and optimism for a people worn down by hardship and discouragement. This New Deal program commissioned artists to create post office murals to celebrate the lives, history, hopes, and dreams of ordinary Americans. In Texas alone, artists painted ninety-seven artworks for sixty-nine post offices and federal buildings around the state.

In this beautiful volume Philip Parisi has gathered 115 photographs of these stunning and historic works of art-36 in full color. He tells the story of how they came to be, how the communities influenced and accepted them, and what efforts have been made to restore and preserve them.