Stanton McDonald-Wright Mural

The Main Library is graced by a cycle of murals originally created by artist Stanton Macdonald-Wright in 1935 for the former Main Library located at 503 Santa Monica Blvd.

View the murals online via our Imagine Santa Monica Image Archives.

Stanton Macdonald-Wright (1890-1973) created one of the most extensive mural cycles in Southern California at the Santa Monica Public Library in the mid-1930’s. Covering over 2,000 square feet of wall, and including 160 figures, it amazed visitors when it was unveiled on August 25, 1935.  The mural series was on view for three decades before it was dismantled when the library moved. Because it had been created as part of the New Deal art projects, the mural was transferred to the federal government.  Most of the series remained in storage for many years near Washington, D.C. 

In 2005, the mural was returned on loan from the Smithsonian American Art Museum to be conserved and reinstalled in the new Main Library when it opened in January 2006.