It’s the lobby of a South Coast Post Office, a place where people have been going to buy stamps, pick up mail, and take care of other business for generations. But, if you look up for a second, you also see the main Ventura Post Office is also an art museum of sorts.
The lobby of the building is home to a more than 100 foot long mural, one of hundreds created around the country as part of a government project in the 1930’s and 40’s. It’s an artwork featuring Ventura County industries from farming to oil. The mural created by Gordon Grant wraps around the lobby, and shows people hard at work at various jobs.
The Ventura mural, and hundreds of others around the country were created as part of a government program designed to create work in the 1930’s, during the Depression.
The United States Post Office is honoring the Post Office mural concept, with five special mural stamps which just went on sale.
Johnson says it’s wonderful that the more than eight decade old mural has been preserved, when many created during the 1930’s and 40’s haven’t. In 1966, it went through a restoration process, and still looks like it was just painted. You can check out the mural during business hours at the Ventura Main Post Office, which is on the 600 block of East Santa Clara Street in Downtown Ventura.
