ADDRESS: 1241 Central Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois 60091
ARTIST: Raymond Breinin
TITLE: In The Soil is our Wealth
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (mural)
STATUS: The Wilmette post office is still an active, operating facility, and the mural can be viewed by interested members of the pubic. It resides in a room off to the left of the public lobby. It’s viewable through the glass but difficult to see it entirely unobstructed unless in the office.
YEAR: 1938
It didn’t look like these two characters in front of the building were going to move anytime soon. They were just kind of loitering around the entrance to the building. Funny, because I’m usually waiting for cars to move. I didn’t have the nerve to ask them to move so I could get an un-obstructive picture, so I just took the photo as is.
Photographing the mural was a challenge. Some time in the history of this building , they built out the left side of the lobby and turned it into an office. The mural is now behind glass and viewable through the large window. The postmaster was kind enough to let me inside the office to get a few better pictures. I was glad I asked as the photos I have look much better without the added glass obstructing the view.
Thanks for stopping by
David W. Gates Jr.
The feature image on this article always bothered me with the two individuals loitering in front of the building. Today I made another trip to this building to photograph it without cars or people. Little did I know that I’d be standing around for about a half hour before I had an unobstructed view of the building. I think it was worth it as we had nice blue skies and plenty of sunshine today in the Chicago-land area. Enjoy!
“Used with the permission of the United States Postal Service®. All rights reserved.”
Sources
- Personal visit on 2/26/2013 & 11/17/2020, 05/03/2023 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
