The Land-Grant Frescoes
One of the largest works of its kind on any campus, the land-grantfrescoes grace the tipper walls of the lobby in Old Main and paytribute to the establishment of the University and land-grant educationin general. The idea for a mural embodying a pictorial synthesis ofPenn State's founding and growth originated in the 1930s with threeprofessors of art and architectural history: Harold E. Dickson, J. BurnHelme, and Francis E. Hyslop. They were inspired in part by therenaissance in mural painting fostered by the federal government'sWorks Progress Administration. Aided by a substantial contribution fromthe class of 1932, the three faculty members secured the services ofartist Henry varnum Poor, creator of several murals for publicbuildings in Washington and widely acknowledged master of the frescomedium. The professors received permission from the board of trusteesto locate the mural on the north wall above the staircase in the lobbyof Old Main.
Poor began making sketches in September 1939 and in April of thefollowing year commenced the actual painting. He worked in true fresco,that is, lie painted directly on the wet plaster that was freshlyapplied (by his daughter Anne) each morning. The pigment thus becamepart of the wall itself, enhancing the mural's permanency. Poorcompleted the job on June 18, 1940, and within the year his creationwas winning acclaim among artists and critics nationwide.
The muralist had dramatized the early years of Penn State with extreme sensitivity. He portrayed symbolically the University's activities in engineering, mineral industries, and agriculture around heroically scaled likenesses of Abraham Lincoln and a young student planting a tree. Poor's use of light and dark and the expressiveness lie gave to his figures are only two of the fresco's most memorable features.
In December 1941, the senior, junior, and sophomore classes voted to allot finds for a continuation of the mural along the east and west walls, but plans had to be held in abeyance until after World War IL Students then raised enough money to re-engage Poor, who in November 1948 returned to Old Main to undertake additional frescoes on either side of the original. Completed in June 1949, the newer portions symbolized Penn State's post-war academic and extracurricular activities and services to the Commonwealth. To span the chronological gap between old and new, Poor inserted a cluster of ten figures, from James Irvin to Ralph Hetzel, who had helped to shape the institution's development.
The entire mural covers more than 1,300 square feet. It endows the University with a unique and priceless work of art as well as a depiction of its history for the contemplation of generations to come.
