402 E. Merriman Avenue
Wynne, Arkansas
870-276-3600
Construction of the Wynne Post Office was completed in early 1937, and it opened in April of that year. Like other post offices built during that time, the specifications included an allocation for a mural. The Treasury Department’s Section of Painting and Sculpture commissioned approximately 1,200 murals and 300 relief sculptures to be placed in post offices across the country between 1934 and 1943. The Wynne Post Office is one of 21 Arkansas post offices that had murals installed in their lobbies between 1939 and 1942.
About the Mural: Ethel Magafan of Colorado Springs, Colorado was commissioned for $560 to create the mural for the Wynne post office as a result of an Honorable Mention in a Section of Fine Arts competition. She visited Wynne and composed numerous sketches of the people as they worked in the cotton fields and chose the theme of "Cotton Pickers." The mural is set against the Delta landscape. In the left background is a large cotton field with pickers. The African-American man and woman in the left foreground carry their loaded bags to a wagon where a group of workers are having their bags weighed and emptied. Magafan installed the mural 1940 with the help of her twin sister Jenne. It was listed on the National Register on August 14, 1998.The color sketch for the composition was exhibited at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center and the black and white cartoon was displayed at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American Art in 1988.
Visiting the Wynne Post Office & Mural
The Post Office is open during normal business hours but entry to the building is available 24 hours a day allowing the mural to be seen at any time.
There is no charge to visit the Wynne Post Office & Mural.
