Ansel Adams' Grand Teton and Snake River

It took almost 70 years, but the Department of the Interior (DOI) headquarters recently unveiled murals taken from Ansel Adams’ portraits. This is the same Ansel Adams who’s arguably the greatest nature photographer of all time.

The short story (see the this video for the long one) of Adams’ involvement goes like this: in 1941, the Secretary of Interior under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harold Ickes, met Adams, struck up a friendship, and commissioned him to take some pictures for the Interior headquarters that would illustrate the agency’s mission. In all, Adams took 200 photographs, but World War II delayed completion of the murals until now. DOI has created 26 murals that the public can view at their headquarters by appointment.

Today art in federal buildings is generally commissioned by the General Services Administration’s Art in Architecture Program. If you are interested in getting a commission, you can request to be added to GSA’s registry of artists who are interested in being commissioned for federal building work.

Is there any art in government buildings that you like?