Jenne Magafan (again with the unfortunate surname) was the twin sister of previously feature Ethel Magafan. The sisters were fortunate enough to be encouraged in their art making by their parents. Like many of the post office muralists (includes some of the women), they studied under Boardman Robinson (another post office muralist).

Most of Jenne’s work (at least that which can be seen online) shows an interest in playing with extremes of perspective (not always in ways that are immediately obvious) (is that redundant?).

“Playing” was a common term among art students when I was in school. It was not meant to indicate a lack of seriousness, but rather experimentation. It was a positive thing. I thought I would mention that because I did (decades ago when I was 18 or 19) refer to a piece by an ex-partner as something where he was “playing” with (I no longer remember what). Oh, my, did I offend. He was not an art student himself and didn’t realize that I was not trying to belittle his work, which depicted the heart-wrenching pain I had caused him. Ah, young love…

For the record, I still think artists should play. If you don’t experiment and learn, always, what’s the point? Make your final masterpiece and close your studio. You clearly have nothing more to say.

Jenne Magafan made four post office murals: Decorative Map (Glenwood Springs, Colorado; made with her husband Edward Chavez), Winter in Nebraska (Albion, Nebraska), Cowboy Dance (Anson, Texas), and Western Town (Helper, Utah).