Behind the art: New Deal murals on view at Jeannette post office

(Editor’s note: Behind the Art is a recurring series highlighting artistic works throughout the county.)

Two pieces of canvas artwork hang high from a lobby wall at the Jeannette post office.

The one on the left, titled “Glass Industry,” depicts the city’s history as a glass-making juggernaut and the piece on the right shows the Battle of Bushy Run, which happened centuries ago about 3 miles away.

The 1938 pieces use similar muted colors to portray men involved in both historical aspects.

Both were created under the New Deal, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s bid to end the Great Depression by providing federally funded jobs for Americans. That included artists who created thousands of sculptures, paintings and murals for government buildings around the country. Many of the pieces are held at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in New York.

California nonprofit Living New Deal compiles information about those works, including the two murals at the Jeannette post office. Both were designed by Frank Olson and painted by Alexander Kostellow.

“This 20th century history of the New Deal has served communities for decades, which today’s society takes for granted not realizing the nation’s history behind it all,” Donna McCullough, activities director with the Jeannette Historical Society, wrote in an article about the artworks.

• The Battle of Bushy Run happened over two days in Penn Township in August 1763 as Native Americans fought back against British forces encroaching on their land. The artwork depicts both forces amid trees with British soldiers, some on horseback, attacking the Native Americans with guns and bayonets.

• “Glass Industry” depicts men working in an industrial setting with what appears to be smoke wafting through the scene. A man holding a piece of plate glass is in the center of the artwork and another appears to be using a blowpipe to form glass. Jeannette was once home to a number of glass-making operations, earning it the nickname “Glass City.”

The post office was built in 1935. People visit the South Fifth Street building to look at the pieces of art, according to a U.S. Postal Service spokesman. Photographs are permitted in the lobby as long as the person taking them doesn’t interfere with daily operations or other customers. The spokesman refused to let a reporter interview the postmaster.