George Washington High Schoool
600 32nd Street
Library
Contemporary Education by Ralph Stackpole resides on the west wall of the library at George Washington High School. It was painted in 1936 as part of the WPA and the New Deal.
Newspaper accounts at the time state that Stackpole was “interpreting contemporary education in the American high schools.”
Ralph Stackpole(1885-1973)
Stackpole grew up in Oregon and came to San Francisco after the turn of the century. He was a sculptor, muralist, etcher, and teacher and was one of the cities leady artists during the 1920s and 30s. He was already quite prominent as an artist before he was given a commission to create a mural at the Coit Tower Project. He had become well known based on his sculpture at the Pan Pacific International Exposition, his work at the Pacific Coast Stock Exchange and his teaching at the California School of Fine Arts.
Stackpole was primarily responsible for bringing Diego Rivera to San Francisco in1930.
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