Labor Fest Coit Tower WPA Mural Presentation

Coit tower, atop San Francisco's Telegraph Hill, was constructed in 1934 with funds bequeathed to the city by Lillie Hitchcock Coit
Artists in the 1930s sucessfuly petitioned the Roosevelt administration to create a public works program for the arts. Twenty-six artists , under the direction of Victor Arnautoff, were chosen to paint murals on the interior of the structure with funding by the newly created Public works Art Program. The murals were inspired by the monumental works of Diego Rivera and many were executed in fresco - wet lime plaster -technique. The major themes of the mural project are labor and life California. Controversy soon surrounded the project as news of the content leaked out. Before completetion, the S.F. Examminer revealed that Artist Clifford Wight had depicted a "Hammer and Sickle." This set the tone for what would follow, the contorversy intensified and even continues to this day. More information can be found in Masha Zakheim Jewett'S " Coit Tower, San Francisco, Its History and Art." Volcano Press. The first photo is a detail of Victor Arnautoff's "City Life."