Colorado Ave Viaduct – Santa Monica CA
This reinforced concrete viaduct connecting old Route 66 to the Santa Monica pier was built by the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works in 1939.
Franklin Elementary School – Santa Monica CA
From photo below: "Franklin Elementary School, Santa Monica – Demolished second floor and rehabilitated school damaged by earthquake. Also ground improvements and construction of tennis courts." A 1939 WPA Accomplishment Report also reported that the WPA constructed a building at… read more
Grant Elementary School – Santa Monica CA
“The school moved to its current Sunset Park location at 2368 Pearl Street in 1937, where the Works Project Administration (WPA) built much of the campus that exists today. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s WPA programs employed people for useful projects… read more
John Adams Junior High School – Santa Monica CA
“John Adams Junior High School, located at Ocean Park and Sixteenth Street after it was rebuilt in 1936 as a WPA project. The original school was constructed at Los Amigos Park in 1914, but it was severely damaged during the… read more
McKinley Elementary School – Santa Monica CA
The WPA reconstructed McKinley Elementary school in Santa Monica under at least two separate WPA projects.
McKinley Elementary School Sculpture – Santa Monica CA
This 4' high cast stone sculpture "Storybook Land" of two children reading was funded by the WPA-FAP and created by sculptor Stefan De Vriedt in 1936. It is located in the inner courtyard.
Olympic Boulevard Storm Drain – Santa Monica CA
From the 1940 WPA Photo below: "Here is a WPA project now in operation underneath the streets in the very heart of Los Angeles. The Olympic Boulevard storm drain is a unit of a city-wide storm drain project. The basic… read more
Pacific Palisades Park Sculpture – Santa Monica CA
This 18′ high art deco sculpture “Santa Monica” by Eugene Morahan is located on the bluff at the foot of Wilshire Blvd. It is a statue of Saint Monica, for whom the city of Santa Monica was named. It was built in… read more
Santa Monica City Hall – Mural I – Santa Monica CA
“The City Hall walls feature historic Stanton Macdonald-Wright murals documenting the citys and the states history. MacDonald-Wright, is the founder of the Synchromism art movement. He pioneered a method called Petrachrome, painting murals with a liquid mixture of materials including… read more
Santa Monica City Hall – Mural III – Santa Monica CA
"Beach scene" (1938), a petrachrome mural, is located outside the downtown parking structure.
Santa Monica City Hall – Santa Monica CA
“Santa Monica City Hall is a PWA project, and its architectural style has been dubbed WPA Moderne. This style of architecture was most widely used in building projects financed by the federal government and constructed by the Federal Emergency Administration… read more
Santa Monica College Building – Santa Monica CA
The WPA constructed a building for Santa Monica College at 18th and Pearl in the 1930s.
Santa Monica High School – Santa Monica CA
The WPA replaced those school buildings that had been destroyed by the 1933 earthquake. This included: a two-story main building for classrooms and administration, a one-story science building with a cafeteria, a boys gymnasium, a two-story shop building, and auditorium…. read more
Santa Monica High School Barnum Hall Theater – Santa Monica CA
“The Barnum Hall Theatre was built in 1938 by the Federal Works Project Administration (WPA) and also served as the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium when it was first built. It was designed to be a cultural center to the Santa… read more
Santa Monica High School Bas Relief – Santa Monica CA
A 5′ x 5′ carved wood bas-relief depicting “Workers” is located in the library over the circulation desk. It was produced with FAP funds. The artist is unknown.
Santa Monica High School Mosaic – Santa Monica CA
This 30′ concrete and petrachrome mosaic “Senior Bench” was created by Grace Clements with FAP funds in 1937.
Santa Monica High School Sculpture – Santa Monica CA
In addition to the Barnum Hall Theater, several other WAP-FAP art projects dot the high school campus, including a 7′ high cast stone sculpture titled “The Viking” that stands on the patio between the Art and History buildings. The sculpture… read more
Santa Monica High School Stone Bas Relief – Santa Monica CA
This 4′ x 3′ cast stone relief entitled “Comedy, Tragedy, Music” was produced by Olinka Hrdy in 1937 with FAP funds.
Santa Monica High School: Buff Mural – Santa Monica CA
Originally painted for the library, this mural “Westward II” by Conrad Buff was relocated to the Barnum Hall auditorium. It is now awaiting a new location. It was painted in 1935, most likely under the WPA’s Federal Art Project like… read more
Santa Monica High School: MacDonald-Wright Murals – Santa Monica CA
“The foyer of Barnum Hall displays a handsome tile mosaic fifteen by seventeen feet in size, called “The Vikings.” The mosaic, and the mural on the asbestos stage curtain [“Entrance of the Gods into Valhalla”], are the work of a… read more
Santa Monica Municipal Airport – Santa Monica CA
From the archive photo below: "Designed especially for the heavier and faster craft of today, the new WPA-built runway, from which the famed B-19 took off on her maiden flight, was completer about June 20, 1941 – a certified national… read more
Santa Monica Post Office – Santa Monica CA
The distinctive and historic New Deal post office in Santa Monica was constructed in 1937-8 with federal Treasury Department funds.
Santa Monica Public Library Mural – Santa Monica CA
This very large mural by Stanton Macdonald-Wright “Invention and Imagination” consists of 30 panels and covers 2,000 square feet. In it’s original installation, it covered all wall space in the reading room of the previous Santa Monica Public Library at… read more