New Deal Mural

The post office contractor, Langlois Construction Co., constructed the building in 1938 and received funding from the Federal Treasury Department. The New Deal project consisted of civic facilities, federal facilities, and post offices. With post offices being built, the Treasury Department’s Section of Painting and Sculpture received 1% of the funding to create murals to uplift the citizens suffering from the effects of the Great Depression. The New Deal art project commissioned artists in the United States through competitions, creating murals to be installed in post offices. The murals exhibited in the United States post offices were painted from 1934 to 1943. Around 850 artists received commission to paint 1371 murals. Other programs such as, the Treasury Relief Art Project provided art pieces to federal buildings funded by the Works Progress Administration or WPA.

The artists in the New Deal art project constructed only American scene style murals. The Treasury Department insisted on no abstract or modern art styles. In addition, the painting needed to present no controversial subjects and scenes appropriate to the specific location selected. Most of the murals created still are displayed in the post offices and other federal buildings.

The Ada post office possess one of the murals created during the Great Depression. The mural, A Country Barn Dance, created by Albert Kotin in 1939, shows a community coming together to enjoy each other’s company. Before entering the Public Works of Art Project, the artist studied in Paris. With the artists selected for the art competition, Kotin, among the 850 was one selected. During the contest, three murals created by Kotin displayed over the lobbies of two different post offices. The mural, A Country Barn Dance, exhibited in the Ada post office, still there today. The mural extends around 12 feet across the postmaster’s door in the lobby of the post office. The mural includes musicians playing for their neighbors of the community, while men and women dance together, the children are playing in the background. The artist, wished to capture the characters that settled in that specific region of Ohio. Kotin aspired to show peace and prosperity in A Country Barn Dance painting.

With winning the competition, Kotin also created two other murals, referred to as, The City and The Marsh, displayed in the Arlington post office in Kearny, New Jersey from 1935 to 1943. All three murals painted by Kotin used oil on canvas to create the uplifting murals for the communities. Some other murals featured on the postal series created in the late 1930s through the 1940s known as, Kiowas Moving Camp in Anadarko, Oklahoma, Antelope in Florence, Colorado, Air Mail in Piggott, Arkansas, and a many other are displayed all over the country

Steiner, Fred. The Story Behind Ada's post office mural goes back 78 years, adaicon.com. July 22nd 2013. Accessed November 8th 2020. http://www.adaicon.com/news/201307/story-behind-adas-post-office-mural-goes-back-78-years .

Post Office Mural - Ada, Oh, livingnewdeal.org. Accessed November 8th 2020. https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/ada-post-office-country-dance-mural-ada-oh/ .

Steiner, Fred. About Ada's Post Office Mural , adaicon.com. June 25th 2019. Accessed November 8th 2020. http://www.adaicon.com/news/201906/about-adas-post-office-mural#:~:text=Ada's%20mural%20%E2%80%9CCountry%20Dance%2C%E2%80%9D,extends%20nearly%2012%20feet%20across. .

List of New Deal Murals, en.wikipedia.org. June 30th 2019. Accessed November 18th 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_New_Deal_murals.