Public Art Education Project: INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA

LION BUFFALO RAM + BEAR (1937)

Artists

Gordon Newell +
Sherry Peticolas

Collection

US Post Office

Medium

Sculptural Relief

Material

Reinforced Plaster

Inglewood Post Office
300 East Hillcrest Blvd.
Inglewood, California

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Gordon Newell and Sherry Peticolas' four plaster facade reliefs of California’s wildlife preside over the Inglewood, California post office entrance. The heads of a buffalo, bear, ram, and mountain lion were created by the pair in 1937 as part of the Works Progress Administration, a program funded by the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP). Each animal is framed by paired panels of California grass or trees.

Newell and Peticolas' commissioned works are seen in other post offices. Among their most significant municipal works are Eagle in Colton, Horseman in Hollywood, and Transportation of the Mail in San Fernando, all in California.

Gordon Newell

Born in Petaluma, California on November 9, 1905, Gordon Newell studied at Occidental College in Los Angeles and the University of California at Berkeley. He apprenticed with Ralph Stackpole and was put to work on art elements for the San Francisco Stock Exchange. Newell moved to Los Angeles, teaching at the Chouinard Art School and Occidental College through the the 1930s. From 1965 to 1972 he taught at the Monterey Sculpture Center in Seaside, California. Gordon Newell died in 1998.

Sherry Peticolas

Born in Waterloo, Iowa on February 19, 1904, Sherry Peticolas studied at the University of Southern California with sculptors Merrell Gage and Gutzon Borglum, the instigator of Mount Rushmore’s noted carvings. She was active in Los Angeles and worked on the Federal Art Project during the Depression. Peticolas' important municipal commissions in southern California include the Power of Water fountain in Wilshire Center's Lafayette Park. Sherry Peticolas died in 1956.