Cedar Rapids City Hall to uncover Depression-era art

Another bit of Depression-era art hidden away for decades will soon go on display again inside the council chambers at Cedar Rapids' city hall.

The Law and Culture mural on display in the old federal courthouse in Cedar Rapids was painted over for the final time nearly 50 years ago. But when the city of Cedar Rapids converted the old courtroom to a council chambers, the idea was to uncover all the hidden artwork.

Conservationists began work on uncovering the second hidden mural recently will unveil it on June 1st. City staffers showed off the conservation work in progress Tuesday.

Scott Haskins, chief mural conservator for Fine Arts Conservation Laboratories, said uncovering artwork is not the same as stripping paint off a wall at home.

“There's much more finesse involved. We take off layer by layer kind of dissecting five layers of paint over the top of the original and it's a very sensitive process,” Haskins said.

There are four murals in the city's council chambers. Fundraising to uncover the remaining two is currently underway. The city is paying Fine Arts Conservation Laboratories $87,940 for the work.

The murals were created in 1937 in a program to fund public works of art. The murals are approximately five feet tall and run for a total of 48 feet in length. The art depicts various scenes of industrial and social progress.