Stamps 2019, Post Office Murals

Celebrating Art

“Kiowas Moving Camp” (1936)
Anadarko, Oklahoma
One of the Kiowa Six, a group of 20th-century Native-American artists hailing from Oklahoma, Stephen Mopope (1899–1974) designed a multi-part mural depicting Plains Indian life. Mopope and Kiowa Six artists James Auchiah (1906–1974) and Spencer Asah (ca. 1906–1954) painted 16 murals with tempera paint directly to the plaster walls in the lobby, including “Kiowas Moving Camp.” They can be seen at the Anadarko Post Office in Oklahoma.
USPS press release, U.S. Postal Service Honors Post Office Lobby Artwork with Stamps

USPS sales page, Post Office Murals

Location: Anadarko
Artist: Stephan Mopope
Title: scenes of Indian life
Date: 1937
Medium: tempera
WPA – Works Progress Administration, New Deal Art During the Great Depression, Oklahoma

 

 
Process Notes
Despite an enthusiastic start [Year of the Stamp], stamps ended up in the ‘Interesting, but …’ bin. I posted four times last year and then wandered off to do other things [Stamp Archives]. My opinion at the end of last year was, “I will engage with these if an opportunity lands in my lap, but I won’t go searching.” [Dabbling in the Art World, Graphics 2018] A quick photo post of this year’s stamps counts landing in my lap.

Update
ABC& News: Anadarko mural to be commemorated with stamp, with video

“Mopope was also chosen because he was considered by Jacobson to be the best and most outgoing artist of the “Kiowa Five,” a trait which necessary to becoming the lead for the project. His cultural ties to Anadarko, home to the Kiowa, would provide an accurate depiction of the culture from his personal experiences.” Stamp mural is one of 16 panels. The Living New Deal: Post Office Mural – Anadarko OK

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott