Gardendale Elementary School murals

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The Gardendale Elementary School murals are a series of painted murals created by 8th grade students at Gardendale Elementary School in 1940 and 1941 and displayed in the hallways there.

The murals were intended to portray scenes of agricultural and industrial life typical of the period. One panel shows a steel mill, another a farming family, a third shows cotton being transferred from a steamboat to a train.

When the original Gardendale Elementary school was demolished in 2001, the murals were saved and held in private hands. Later they came to the attention of the Gardendale Historical Society, which arranged for them to be displayed at the Gardendale Civic Center.

In late 2015 two unidentified males threatened to "mow down" employees of the Civic Center unless the paintings were removed. When the threat was later reported to Mayor Stan Hogeland, he ordered the murals to be removed and security cameras installed at the facility.

In March 2016 Gardendale Historical Society president Kermit Dooley appeared at a meeting of the Gardendale City Council to ask why the paintings had been removed and where they were. It was then that the threat and Hogeland's order was made public. Arrangements were made for them to be donated to the Society's newly-opened Gardendale Historical Society Museum for safekeeping.

See also

References

  • Davis, Rachel (March 10, 2016) "Gardendale murals will find new home in local museum." The North Jefferson News