COVID Card #122

September 4, 2020 | 0 comments


Card 122 is a little less sketchy (spaces) than most. It recognizes another post office muralist: Frank Hartley Anderson. His mural, Spirit of Steel, is located in the Fairfield, Alabama Post Office. If you follow COVID Cards, you might be wondering if Alabama had a corner on the post office mural market. It did not. It’s just the first state alphabetically. My secret is out.

Mr. Anderson was probably best known for his printmaking, though he worked in various media. Like many American artists in the 1920s-1940s, his work often depicted scenes from the lives of the poor and working class. Anderson’s work as an architect took him to Birmingham, Alabama where he founded the Southern Printmakers Society. His critique of an art critique seen here (language warning) reveals someone who is a defender of the south, but also someone who feels that northern artists can be the saviors and educators of southern artists. While panning one critique, he praises another, singling out the author’s use of language, which most of us today would take great issue with. There is much to be said about white artists trying to make a living by depicting the lives of poor, Black Americans, but that is for another day and a different project.

You can see more of his work here.

Cards 1-100

To learn more about any of the first 100 cards, select a number from the list below.

COVID Cards

The United States Postal Service has been hit hard by the pandemic. Controlling elements of the Federal Government (the president and Republican Senate) do not want to provide aid to the service. So, it’s up to us. It may seem insignificant, but if we all sent just a few letters a week, we could help ensure that our daily, free mail delivery service continues. For the past (see the card number above) days, I have drawn a card each day and mailed it to someone the next day (none are sent on Sundays; two are sent on Mondays). Please consider mailing cards and letters while we still can for 55 cents (first class letter postage). If the USPS fails, you could find it costs $8 or more to send a letter. And that’s just one of the ways we will all lose if the USPS shuts down.

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