Kenova Post Office & “Worker”

The Kenova Post Office was completed by Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers in 1939. The building is a simple one-story rectangle with moderately sized windows and little ornamentation besides a seal on the lintel and words on the cornice reading “United States Post Office Kenova West Virginia.” In contrast to many WPA erected buildings, the Kenova Post Office has white walls, rather than exhibiting the more typical red brick. The interior of the federal building includes a set of carved wooden reliefs created by Albino Cavallito. Cavallito was a prominent three-dimensional artist who studied at the Trenton School of Industrial Art, the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design, and the Fontainebleau School of Fine Art. The artist was awarded a gold medal for sculpture by the Allied Artists of America in 1945. Cavallito’s work at the Kenova Post Office was created near the height of his career. The central piece is of a shirtless male figure standing in a relaxed but confident manner with a large sledge at his side. The emblematic worker is surrounded by four smaller vignette panels. The panels likely represent various economies in which workers were employed. From bottom left clockwise, one interpretation of the panels could be that they stand for agriculture, timber, mining, and industry. Taken as a whole, the work venerates the labor and contributions of the working class in the state.

Albino Cavallito, Smithsonian American Art Museum. Accessed June 24th 2021. https://americanart.si.edu/artist/albino-cavallito-785.

Emerson, Jimmy. Worker, New Deal Art Registry. Accessed June 24th 2021. https://newdealartregistry.org/map/Kenova/WV/.

Lorance, Nancy. New Deal/WPA Art in Kenova, West Virginia, WPA Murals. Accessed June 24th 2021. http://wpamurals.org/kenovawv.htm.

Park, Marlene. Markowitz, Gerald E. Democratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Temple University Press, 1984.

Post Office - Kenova WV, The Living New Deal. Accessed June 24th 2021. https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/post-office-kenova-wv/.

Post Office Reliefs, The Living New Deal. Accessed June 24th 2021. https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/post-office-reliefs-kenova-wv/.