ADDRESS: 1921 Ridge Road, Homewood, Illinois, 60430
ARTIST: Maurine Montgomery (Gibbs)
TITLE: The Letter
MEDIUM: Wood (relief)
STATUS: The Homewood post office is still an active, operating facility and the relief can be viewed by interested members of the public. It resides in the lobby on the wall above the postmaster’s door.
YEAR: 1940
Welcome to the Homewood Illinois post office. When I first set out to write and document post offices I was only aware of murals. So needless to say you could imagine my surprise when I discovered other types of art. The Homewood Illinois post office is great example of this. There is a wonderful wood relief in the lobby. After performing a little more research, I wanted to see if for myself. So I packed up my car and headed out for another road trip in May of this year.
Sadly, I found the sidewalk in front of the building under construction. As you know I prefer to get unobstructed front and center photos of each building when I can. Unfortunately, this one has yellow tape and orange cones in view. Luckily Homewood is close enough I may have to visit again.
When viewed in person the wood carving appears to be a plaster cast. The pictures I viewed online certainly did not represent it well. I hope the images you find below give you a better idea of the beauty of this pieces. It was nice to photographs something other than a mural. It also appears to be a bit dusty on top. I wonder what it would take to shine it up a bit?
What do you think of the Homewood artwork? Did you know the name of the work? Do you know anything else about the artists? I wonder with the name of Gibb if they might be related to musical band the Bee Gee’s. Just something to think about.
Thanks,
David W. Gates Jr.
Sources
- Personal visit on 5/10/2014 by David W. Gates Jr.
- (affiliate link) Illinois Post Office Mural Guidebook
- United States Postal Service
- (affiliate link) Democratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal
: [Hardcover] Marlene Park, Gerald E. Markowitz