This mural depicting a self-sufficient farm is one of ten completed in 1939 by Mobile artist John Augustus Walker for the federal Works Progress Administration. The agency commissioned the murals for the Alabama State Fair as a celebration of the state's progress in adopting modern farming techniques.
John Augustus Walker Gallery
John Augustus Walker (1901-1967) was a Mobile artist best known for the murals he painted for the federal Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression. Shown here are several of the brightly colored murals he created for the Alabama State Fair in 1939, as well as sketches for his 1935 series of murals on Mobile’s history and culture. He also painted portraits, including his own (shown here), and landscapes and designed Mardi Gras floats and costumes. During his career, Walker received numerous local, state, and national awards for his work and was one of the most active artists of his time in the greater Mobile area.