Michigan Post Office Murals Project

Alma: Introduction

Joe Cox, Harvest, 1940. Oil on canvas. 5 ft. 9 in. x 13 ft. 6 in. Alma, Michigan. Photo by Megan Flattley. Used with the permission of the United States Postal Service®. All rights reserved.

Harvest is an oil on canvas mural painted by Joe H. Cox, an artist from Indianapolis, Indiana, for the town of Alma, Michigan. Cox received the commission in January 1939 but the artist’s move to Iowa City and criticism from the Section of Fine Arts regarding subject matter delayed the historical wheat harvest painting’s installation until spring 1940. Today, Harvest still occupies its original location in Alma’s New Deal post office at 233 North State St.

This entry was written by Michaela Rife and photographed by Megan Flattley.