Williamsburg Murals: A Rediscovery July 12, 2012

The exceptional murals installed in this area, executed by the pioneer American abstractionists Ilya Bolotowsky, Balcomb Greene, Paul Kelpe and Albert Swinden, were commissioned by the Works Progress Administration/Federal Art Project in 1936 for Brooklyn's Williamsburg Houses, one of the earliest and best public housing projects in New York City. Designed by pioneering modernist architect William Lescaze, the four-story houses included basement community rooms decorated with murals in "abstract and stimulating patterns" designed to aid relaxation. Fortunately, though the murals suffered from neglect over the years, they were rediscovered in the late 1980s under layers of paint. After a painstaking restoration, they were returned to public view at the Brooklyn Museum, on long-term loan from the New York City Housing Authority.