Vol.19  No.22

MARION TIMES

Thursday June 4, 2009

Restored post office mural sees dedication this weekend

Seventy years after it was painted, the mural that once resided on a wall in the Marion Post Office and City Hall will be celebrated with an unveiling, ribbon-cutting and rededication this Saturday, June 6, at the Marion Heritage Center.  Art conservator Tony Rajer coordinated the two-year project that involved moving the mural, which is titled Communications by Mail, from its original home in the former post office, and restoring it.  The mural is a fresco -- which is art work painted into plaster -- and was created by Grant Wood protégé, artist Dan Rhodes who won the commission by the U.S. government's competition by the Works Progress Administration for the then-new Marion Post Office.  Rhodes was paid $650 for the job, which he started on May 26, 1939 and completed three months later.

Leif Larson puts on some finishing touches.

Photo by Cary J. Hahn/Marion Times.

The completed Dan Rhodes' mural "Communications by Mail," will be dedicated in its new home at the Marion Heritage Center this Saturday, June 6, 2009, during an open house.

Photo by Cary J. Hahn/Marion Times.