Grand Ledge: The Process
James Calder received the official Section of Fine Arts invitation for the Grand Ledge mural commission on October 16, 1939. But the story of the Grand Ledge mural starts earlier with the 48 States Competition—a nationwide contest to place a mural in a small post office in each of the (then 48) states. While some towns balked at the idea of a mural designated by Washington, D.C., the Grand Ledge postmaster expressed enthusiasm for such a project. On August 14, 1939 (shortly after the competition was announced in the Section’s June 1939 bulletin), postmaster H.M. Byington wrote to the Section and asked that they send the competition details to John Wareham, the manager of Rookwood Pottery in Cincinnati. Byington was hoping for a unique mural made of ceramic tile but the primary appeal, as he explained in his letter, was that Wareham “is a native son of Grand Ledge and we would like very much to have some of this fine work on exhibition in our new Post Office.” Edward Rowan assured Byington that a tile mural would be acceptable and he wrote to Wareham himself to strongly encourage the artist to submit a design in the competition. The Grand Ledge file in the National Archives does not contain any further information about a possible Wareham design, so it is unclear whether or not he entered the competition. Regardless, Byington’s interest tells us that Grand Ledge was receptive to art in their new post office and particularly interested in a local artist.
Ultimately, 972 artists submitted 1,477 designs to the Section’s largest competition, where a jury comprised of Section leaders Edward Bruce and Edward Rowan, and artists Maurice Sterne, Henry Varnum Poor, Edgar Miller, and Olin Dows, judged the sketches. Grand Ledge was fortunate to receive Calder, a Michigan artist who cared about local specificity. Other 48 States towns were not so lucky, for example, New York artist Philip von Saltza submitted a scene of wild horses and cacti for Safford, Arizona, which the jury assigned to Schuyler, Nebraska. (The cacti became windblown trees in the final version.) Calder, having recently completed his mural for St. Clair, was eager to accept another commission and quickly submitted his canvas sample and technical outline for approval. Rowan approved the sample and the outline on November 1st, authorizing Calder to begin his 14’x 5’2” oil-on-canvas mural, “Waiting for the Mail,” for $740 paid over three installments. In November, Calder officially visited Grand Ledge to assess the space and collect local detail. Byington praised the visit in a letter to Washington and further enthused, “We are hoping for a fine Mural that will add to the beauty of our splendid building.”
Calder’s mural, a scene of rural mail delivery featuring a farm family (Image 1), moved quickly through the Section system, and by December 12, the Section had authorized the first installment of his payment. This speed was due in large part to the 48 States Competition, where Calder’s design had already been vetted. In fact, while Calder was visiting Grand Ledge and preparing to begin the mural in November, his design joined the other winners on exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery. His sketch was also reproduced in a December 4 Life magazine feature on the competition, though the subject was erroneously described as “a farmer visiting neighbors by car in an idealistic setting.” The Life caption misunderstood the meaning of Calder’s mural, which only seems generic on the surface. (See The Mural) Meanwhile, Calder’s letter to Rowan on January 28, 1940, with a photograph of his mural cartoon, emphasized the actual specificity of the design: “The skyline, I changed from a lake to the actual Grand Ledge skyline, at the suggestion of the Grand Ledge Postmaster.” (Image 2) Sure enough, in the original sketch, the distant horizon features a small lake, while the cartoon features a water tower and smokestacks from industrial structures—these details related the mural to its location but also nodded toward Calder’s interest in industrial subjects. (See The Artist) Additional changes included removing a rake lying on the grass in the immediate foreground, and a windmill and clump of trees removed from behind the barn on the right edge. We can imagine that Calder’s site visit also influenced the latter change.
The Section quickly approved the cartoon in an official memo on February 7, releasing Calder’s second payment. A complication arose, however, in the form of the often troublesome lighting fixtures, which interfered with the mural. On February 20, Calder wrote to Rowan explaining the problem illustrated by a sketch with proposed solutions. (Image 3) The Grand Ledge file is full of official forms and memos as the Section and the Office of the Supervising Architect attempted to find a solution. On March 25, Rowan wrote to Calder explaining that the lighting would be changed before his installation but he also offered a delayed critique of the cartoon.
“It is suggested that the left arm of the farmer in the foreground and that of the boy at the automobile and the right arm of the mother be checked for length from shoulder to elbow. They seemed rather short. I also felt that if the shrubs, particularly the large one in the foreground, are painted with more character it will be to the interest of your design. This applies to all of the shrubs and the tree in foreground and middle distance.”
Two months later, on May 31, Calder sent a photograph of his completed Grand Ledge mural to Rowan, noting that he found the earlier critiques useful. (Image 4) In comparing the two photographs, the mentioned figures’ arms do appear to be adjusted in the final version. Calder also took Rowan’s critiques of the shrubs to heart and the final version features a more specific shrub in the foreground and several cattle in the middle ground, replacing an ill-defined clump of shrubbery.
On June 14, 1940, Rowan wrote to Calder to approve his mural and authorize installation; he also included copies of a press release and envelopes for Calder to promote his mural in the local press. However, on June 20, Calder wrote back to alert the Section that the problem lighting fixture was still in place. Postmaster Byington also began writing to the Federal Works Agency asking for the fixture’s removal to allow Calder to install his mural. Unfortunately for Calder, the Section was unable to release his final payment until the mural was installed, but the fixture had still not been removed in late October. On October 26, a frustrated Calder wrote to Rowan that (according to Byington) the wall would not be ready for two more weeks. Finally, on November 24, 1940, Calder wrote to Rowan to confirm that the Grand Ledge mural was successfully installed. He also mentioned that “the comments that I overheard while installing the mural were both interesting and favorable.” That sentiment was confirmed by Postmaster Byington in a letter the following day, “I had many comments Saturday from local patrons and this work seemed to be approved by everyone.” With the mural installed, Calder received his final payment and shared cleaning instructions with the Section. Byington’s enthusiasm for the mural and cooperation with the Section continued as he dutifully forwarded local newspaper clippings with additional comments that “the decoration is much appreciated by our local patrons.”
Sources
- “Grand Ledge.” Box 50, Case Files Concerning Embellishments of Public Buildings, 1934-1943, Entry 133, Records of the Public Buildings Service, Record Group 121, National Archives II, College Park, Maryland.
- “Speaking of Pictures…This is Mural America for Rural Americans,” Life, December 4, 1939, 12-15.
- Karal Ann Marling, Wall to Wall America: Post Office Murals in the Great Depression (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1982), 81-89.
