New Deal Alaska Art (2/5): "Alaska Snowshoe Mail Carrier" and "Chief Johnson" totem pole

Above: "Alaska Snowshoe Mail Carrier," an aluminum sculpture by Chaim Gross (1904-1991), created while he was in the New Deal's Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture, 1936. This sculpture is in the William Jefferson Clinton Federal Building (headquarters for the EPA). According to the Smithsonian American Art Museum: "Like many other artists, [Chaim] benefited greatly from the support of the New Deal's Public Works of Art Project. In the late 1930s the Treasury Department's Section of Painting and Sculpture commissioned him to execute several works for federal buildings; these helped to establish him as a major contemporary sculptor" ("Chaim Gross"). Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and Carol M. Highsmith.

Above: The "Chief Johnson" totem pole in Ketchikan, Alaska, ca. 1939. This totem was restored by native Alaskans, with the support of the Civilian Conservation Corps. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.