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PAGE TWOMIAMI NEWS-RECORDPaintingWorth/020or$2?Fidit 0er* *% a .L -—A 'rlAQl 11 ■ * *2 f A 1 , *m ^ JkU 1 * vif4(l Note; A Bicentennial sponsored by AM College and the Oklahomaanities Committee focuses ?derallv funded murals in homa during the Great ession Director of the Dr. Nick Calc he NRO faculty. Himself irtist. Dr.project is vt \icn lt;aicagnoofinCalcagno plans aseries of articles about New Deal era murals. The first isw lowBv DR NICK CALCAGNOTkwas ame Will Rogers mural inted by Randall Davey and installed ui the Ckremore PostOffice in 19® rapidly gained disfavor in the eyes of several local community leadersControversy started with comments made by a Oaremore Civic Club memberwho felt the mural hodge-podge and not enough Will Rogers.”The mural was painted byDavey as a federal arts project through the Section of Fine Arts, which commissioneds of art by means oflocal and national competitions The Davey project was not awarded as part of a work-relief program. He was commissioned to do the mural on the basis of designs previously submitted in competition. At the time, Randall Davey was 52 years old and well established as a Santa Fe. N.M . artistThe Will Rogers mural by Randall Davey at CloremoreOaremore * criticmural failed to cf I- -tUithecow boin hmliftdpnuo*Oaremore people saw it. One voiced the opinion that the canvas was worth about $2 “at the most” and that the $1,0® the government was supposed to have paid Randall Davey for the painting was “just $1,018 toomuch.’* Also rallying to the support of Claremore criticswas an art director of (me of Oklahoma’s colleges, who stated he could not findwere then two panels below themural depicting cattle grazing emi-desert region.) everyone agreed that missed the mark, in*th«postmaster s panels of cattle painted directlyon the wall on either side of theTwo were his greatest interests, andthese he brought to life on canvas Davey held that art as adoor wdestrIdVCTVeluding Davey himself A pressrelease from Santa Fe began with a sharply stated “Phooey to Claremore. Oklahoma, fromRandall Davey ” Davey saidthat if Mrs —— is to be thed with theAccording to HarryHoagland, First National Bank of Oaremore. efforts are nowcreative process is the pIV IemitWhunderway to have the muralrestored and donated to aanything true to life in pictures of Will Rogers surrounded by a jazz band and Oklahoma cows grazing in cactus fields (Therespokesman for Claremore, it might be well for her to study more diligently those subjects more suitable to her capacity for understanding.’’“The mural,” captainedDavey, “is supposed to represent the various activitiesof Will Rogers from the earlvmuseum Randall Davey. born m 1887, was an instructor at the Chicago Art Institute, the Kansas City Art Institute, the Broadmoor Art Academy in Colorado Springs, and the University of New Mexico He was awardedof every human b really understood, it is simply i question of doing things anything, well Other Randall Davey mural can be found at the WUI Rogers Shrine at Colorado .Springs, Colo, and at the Vtnita Post OfficeC'*9The flaremore Will Roger*5 to 6 P.M.KGLCEvery Sunday Evecowboy days through the phases of the stage, movie, flying and press activities “Despite the controversy, the mural remained where it wastop prizes from the NationalAcademy of Design and an Honorary Fellowship m Fine Arts by the School of American Research an honor conferredRUSS MARTINuntil 1966 Then, while workmenWith The“SOUNDS OF FAITHwere in the process of razing the old post office building, an alert local banker halted their workto remove thefrom the wall.ughVjr 9 It h**on only a few outstanding artists His work is included inmany public and private collections in the country Although he worked with distinction m all fields of art, he may be best remembered forhis important portraits ofnationally-known men andIN THE 70's!”on* | •wman egg tempera painting as, was glued to the wallith Damar varnish and white“ immediatelv avovewomen People and fine horseslean pasTed Says Fordmural is one of 50 New Deal mural projects in Oklahomaduring the years 1933-1943. the Roosevelt Era Most of the murals are located in post offices and courthousesthroughout the state In addition to the Treasury Section of Finethree other New Deal Cultural projects were in operation the Public Works of Art Project (1933-1934*. theRelief Art Project11935-1939), and the WPA Federal Art Project (1935-19431. AU projects ended early in 1943 A Bicentennial project titled “New Deal Murals Oklahoma” (InTreasurvft!-v'Sympathetic/On Two! ’ Ci OOKt-AHOMA CITY (APj— I Rep Ted Risenhoover says President Ford was “verysympathetic and concerned” when Risenhoover asked him for White House intervention intiisputes with the Army Corps f Engineers and the TreasuryDepartment Risenhoover *aid he gave thePresident memoranda on bothinvUdimateria! m this article is taken) recently was approved and funded by the Oklahoma Humanities Council Sponsored by Northeastern Oklahoma AltM College, the project will be distilled into a program which will be presented free of charge in several communities A slide-sound and disiusston program, primarily to generate interestC kMM and eituenvalues, is plannedThe first presentation will be held Monday. Nov 3, at Northeastern AltMi nNdenhesinteloo)strcthisTindi|x*indibroExcpiclr:l,Ksue1daydorflatf I Cl iwmmythe1 f *
Newspaper Details
Miami News Record
Miami, Oklahoma, US
Sun, Sep 21, 1975
Page 32
Full Page
Clipped by
Kim S.
NM, USA 14 Aug 2020
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