This red brick post office was built in 1936 during the depression, but reason it is a NRHP site is not the building itself, it is the mural that was painted on the wall of the lobby above the door to the postmaster's office.
While there was a $54,223 contract the building, there was a $590 allotment for a 12' by 5' mural to hang above the postmaster’s door. The story of the mural and how it came about are found in the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program webpage on the post office as quoted below and provides a fascinating glimpse into how this mural came about.
"In August, 1938, Section chief Edward B. Rowan invited artist E. Martin Hennings of Taos, New Mexico, to submit designs for the proposed mural. Hennings never responded, so a follow- up letter was mailed on June 8, 1939, seeking to ascertain the artist’s interest in the project. Hennings responded on June 23, saying he never received the earlier letter, noting that “I would have been very interested in making sketches for the mural then, as I am now.” A month later, Hennings received blueprints of the wall on which the mural would be hung, and the artist pledged to submit sketches of mural subjects for consideration. On September 7, Hennings mailed Rowan a selection of three pencil sketches in which he “restricted myself, in subject, to the early settlers of Arkansas.” The Section chose a concept titled “The Chosen Site” and prepared a contract on October 2, 1939.
Hennings and the Section experienced a number of difficulties in bringing the mural to fruition. The artist submitted his first color sketch on November 22, portraying a pioneer family before a team of oxen pulling a Conestoga wagon. Rowan responded on December 2 that a Section committee found the concept “too sweet for mural decoration,” noting that an image of a kneeling mother and child were "particularly disturbing” and “the men are in need of more convincing virility.” Hennings responded with a terse December 29 note in which he pledged to make “such changes as I feel will improve the vitality of the mural.”
A move to Houston, Texas, delayed submission of a new sketch until March 4, 1940. This, too, was greeted with some concern, particularly a figure of a young man “as he does not seem either to be standing up or sitting down” and a feeling among Section personnel that “the general color of your design does not seem as happy as that of some of your previous paintings.” Regardless, Rowan approved a first payment of $150 to Hennings, which was approved on March 28.
Hennings agreed to make the corrections, and on April 16 sought and received permission to expand the 12' by 5' painting to 14' by 6'8" “to fill the entire space” above the postmaster’s door. Rowan approved the expansion on April 20, but warned that “blue prints cannot always be relied on for the correct dimensions and it is always well to check this with the space in the building.”
Hennings submitted a photograph of his drawing on canvas on June 15 and, noting that “the work has been going a bit slower than anticipated,” requested an extension on his contract, which was due to expire June 30. A second payment of $150 was approved on June 18, and Hennings’ contract was extended to September 30 to allow him time to complete and install the mural.
On September 13, Hennings wrote that “I have finally finished my painting ‘The Chosen Site’ for the Post Office of Van Buren, Arkansas.” Rowan gave permission for installation on September 23, and a month later the artist supervised its installation by Van Buren decorator J.B. Davidson. “It does look splendid in place, and all who have seen it, seem to like it.” Hennings’ assessment of the local reaction appeared to be correct, according to an undated Press Argus article mailed to Rowan by Van Buren Postmaster E.W. Deering. The author notes that “Mr. Hennings was greeted with cordial praise for his work that depicts a pioneer family that has found its site for a new home.” The article also notes that the model for the mural’s adult male figure was Taos gas station attendant Tony Martinez, whose “Mexican features, of course, were Americanized on the canvas.” A final payment of $290 was approved on November 26, completing the process of what was apparently Hennings’ sole work for the Section."
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