Missouri New Deal Murals (1933–1943)
During the New Deal era, post offices and public buildings across Missouri were decorated with murals that reflected local history, labor, agriculture, and everyday life. Many of these works are classic examples of American Regionalism — rooted in place, community, and lived experience.
Missouri became one of the most active states in the nation for New Deal mural production. Through the WPA Federal Art Project, the Section of Fine Arts, and the Public Works of Art Project, dozens of artists — both Missouri‑born and nationally recognized — contributed to a statewide visual record of agriculture, industry, folklore, and community identity. These murals remain some of the most significant public artworks in Missouri’s cultural history.
Northwest & North-Central Missouri
- Bethany — Time Out, Joseph P. Vorst (1942)
- Canton — Winter Landscape, Jessie Hull Mayer (1940)
- La Plata — Missouri Livestock, Emma Lou Davis (1939)
- Marceline — Contemporary Life in Missouri, Joseph Meert (1938)
- Palmyra — Memories of Marion County, James Penney (1942)
- Paris — The Clemens Family Arrives in Monroe County, Fred G. Carpenter (1940)
Northeast Missouri
- Columbia — Pony Express & Stage Coach, Edward Buk Ulreich (1937, removed)
- Fredericktown — The Lead Belt, James B. Turnbull (1939)
- Higginsville — Industrial Activity of the City, Jac T. Bowen (1942)
- Jackson — Loading Cattle, James B. Turnbull (1940)
Central Missouri
- Jefferson City (Missouri State Capitol) — History of Missouri, Thomas Hart Benton (1936) (state-funded, but central to Regionalism)
- Eldon — Picnic, Lake of the Ozarks, Frederick Shane (1941)
Western Missouri
- Lee’s Summit — Pastoral, Ted Gilien (1940)
- Pleasant Hill — Back Home: April 1865, Tom Lea (1939)
- Windsor — New Deal mural site (details vary by archive)
Southwest Missouri
- Cassville — Flora & Fauna of the Region, Edward Winter (1941, porcelain enamel)
- Monett — Products of Missouri, James McCreery (1939)
- Mount Vernon — Spring Pastoral, Joseph Meert (1940)
- Dexter — Husking Corn, Joe Jones (1941)
Southeast Missouri
- Charleston — Harvest, Joe Jones (1939)
- Sainte Genevieve — La Gui-Annee, Martyl Schweig (1942)
Greater St. Louis Region
- St. Louis (Main Post Office) — History of the Region, Edward Millman & Mitchell Siporin (1942, fresco cycle)
- St. Louis – Clayton Branch — The Wheelwright, Dan Rhodes (1942, later moved to Des Moines, IA)
- St. Louis – University City Branch — The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, Trew Hocker (1940)
- St. Louis – Wellston Public School — Family Group, Lumen Martin Winter
Additional Missouri Sites
Other Missouri post offices and public buildings are documented as New Deal mural or art sites, including: Sullivan, Union, and Vandalia. Details of specific works vary by archive and are part of an ongoing effort to document and preserve Missouri’s New Deal Regionalist heritage.
Many of the artists represented in these murals — including Joseph Vorst, Edward Buk‑Ulreich, Jessie Hull Mayer, Mitchell Siporin, and others — are now featured in the Missouri Artists A–Z archive, which provides expanded biographies, program tags, and historical context for Missouri’s New Deal art legacy.
These murals are enduring examples of American Regionalism in public space — visual records of local history, labor, and landscape created for the communities that lived with them every day.