(0:00) Listen to part of a lecture in an art history class. (0:06) During the 1930s and 40s, the U.S. government created programs to combat the severe economic depression that was going on. (0:13) These programs focused mainly on farmers and laborers, but a few helped artists, like hiring artists to decorate government buildings. (0:22) The Treasury Department's Section of Fine Arts, or the Section, sponsored the creation of more than 1,000 artworks. (0:29) Many were in post offices, and most were murals. (0:32) Typically, murals are painted directly onto a wall, often covering the entire wall, and fitted around architectural details like moldings and doorways. (0:41) Post office murals, though, were usually painted on canvas and then attached, glued to the wall. (0:47) What happened was the Section sponsored a competition. (0:50) Artists submitted drawings, and the winners received government grants to paint a mural on canvas. (0:55) Each mural was to represent the local community somehow, its main industry or lifestyle. (1:01) Since the mural would be shipped to its destination, artists didn't have to move to that community and live there the whole time they were painting. (1:08) However, artists were encouraged to visit the community they were painting for. (1:12) This wasn't always possible because travel expenses were high, and even when artists did visit, they might still leave some residents feeling stereotyped or misunderstood. (1:21) Take the case of Richard Haynes. (1:24) Haynes was a California artist hired by the Section to paint a mural for the town of Shelton in Washington State. (1:31) Haynes traveled to Shelton and talked to townspeople there. (1:34) He chose to paint a common activity in Shelton, men driving oxen to transport logs. (1:40) Logging is a key industry in Washington State. (1:43) But despite Haynes' visit to Shelton, the woman who ran Shelton's post office told Haynes that he'd placed the men in the wrong position. (1:50) She also pointed out that oxen were gentle animals and that the faces of the men he'd painted appeared unkind. (1:56) Men like that, she told him, wouldn't even be allowed to touch oxen. (2:00) So there was sometimes resistance, but most communities were pleased with their murals. (2:06) That's because the Section had insisted that the murals be positive and uplifting. (2:10) Artists were specifically directed to avoid unpleasant or politically charged subject matter. (2:15) So we ended up with scenes of everyday life, sometimes a romanticized view of that life, including scenes of local heroes. (2:23) A great example is the folk hero portrayed in a popular series of murals known as the Barefoot Mailman. (2:30) This mural series was inspired by a historic mail delivery route established between the towns of Jupiter and Miami, Florida, in 1885. (2:40) Before this route was established, mail from Jupiter first went north to New York City, then back south, all the way to Havana, Cuba, and from there back up to Florida, a journey of almost 5,000 kilometers, just to go about 100 kilometers down the Florida coast. (2:56) You see, Florida was largely unsettled in the late 1800s, without roads or railroads in many places, so a more direct route down the coast could only be traveled on foot and, in some parts, by small boat, and there were alligators and other dangers along the way. (3:11) Well, the Barefoot Mailman murals show heroic images of one famous mail carrier who walked that difficult and sometimes dangerous route to deliver the mail. (3:21) So what these post office murals did was connect people with their local history, and the people these murals were painted for were ordinary citizens. (3:29) You can also see that in the style of the murals, what's called American scene painting. (3:35) That's a style characterized by images that are easily recognized by locals, and not abstract or difficult to interpret. (3:42) The idea was that people wouldn't need an art education to understand and appreciate the works. (3:47) You know, some art critics question the artistic merit of post office murals because they employed the American scene style. (3:54) Instead of seeing value in this straightforward representational style, many art historians tend to favor the complexity of what they consider a more sophisticated style, European modernism. (4:05) But hopefully, as more of them shift their focus to American art, this elitist attitude will give way to one of appreciation, for the common touch of the style we see in these post office murals.