Oceanside Post Office Art

I recently wrote about the Oceanside post office on Seagaze.  The post office was financed by the Works Progress Administration, an employment program created by President Roosevelt in 1935 to put 8.5 million Americans to work after the Great Depression.  Money was not only allocated to buildings but to art.  The Section of Fine Arts was another Roosevelt Administration conception which employed artists to embellish federal buildings and to boost US moral.  As a result, 1,100 murals and 300 sculptures were created throughout the country.  The coat of arms sculpture above the door at the Seagaze post office was hand carved by Stuart Holmes, who was a contributing artist to the Section of Fine Arts project. 

The Seagaze post office was one of at least three post offices that Stuart Holmes created art for.

Interestingly, Stuart Holmes was not only a famous artist but was also an actor.  He has appeared in over 450 films!

Inside the post office lobby is a 16' by 6' oil on canvas mural created by Elise Seeds.  Elise Seeds was active in the Section of Fine Arts project, as well as local art in general. 

Elise was 6 feet tall and had purple hair in the 1930s.

She was also an actress, appearing in over 20 films.

Out the 1,400 works of art produced in post offices with the New Deal, 1,000 are still on display. This is probably less out of respect for the art and more about lack of funding for redecorating, but good. Less money means more art. 

Isn't that ironic? 

 It really makes you want to take a closer look when you are in government buildings.  A dusty piece of poorly lit art could be more famous than you would ever imagine.