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Courtyard Frescoes at the New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico
The frescoes on the north side of the courtyard at the New Mexico Museum
of Art were painted in 1934 by Will Shuster (1893 to 1969). The eight
images represented views of Native American life and spirituality. They
were painted as part of the Public Works of Art Program, the first
federally funded art project during the Great Depression. Flanking the
north door, the image on the right depicts a Pueblo woman making pottery
from hand dug clay while the fresco on the left shows a Pueblo woman
winnowing wheat with a hand woven basket. The museum building dates
from 1917 and is based on the mission church at Acoma Pueblo, 45 miles
west of Albuquerque, New Mexico.