Norwalk Arts Commission Says Check out WPA Murals

Explore Norwalk’s WPA murals.

In May of 2014, the Norwalk Arts Commission offered free tours of the WPA mural collection. You may have missed the guided tours, but you can always take a self guided tour. Download the map pdf here.

Norwalk has one of the largest collections of restored Works Progress Administration (WPA) murals in the country. Artists employed by the government during the Great Depression created 46 murals; 31 are at Norwalk City Hall.

Many of the City Hall murals depict scenes of Norwalk at work between 1935 and 1941. Besides the now defunct hat manufacturing industry, these murals portray scenes of economic sectors still active in Norwalk today: agriculture, aquaculture/shellfish industry, and the arts, with murals by Alexander J. Rummler and John Steuart Curry. Other notable works include Justin Gruelle’s illustrations of Mark Twain’s works including A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. “Although we have this wonderful collection of WPA murals, few people know about them,” says Dr. Susan Wallerstein, Chairman of the Norwalk Arts Commission and docent. “We’re excited about this opportunity to share the WPA murals with the rest of the community.”

Other mural locations include the Norwalk Transit District, the Norwalk Library and the Maritime Aquarium.

Locations:

• Norwalk City Hall, 125 East Ave.
• the Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk, 10 North Water St.
• Norwalk Public Library, 1 Belden Ave.
• the Norwalk Transit Office 275 Wilson Ave.