Gordon Newell and Sherry Peticolas four plaster facade reliefs of California’s wildlife preside over the Inglewood, California post office entrance. The heads of a buffalo, bear, ram, and mountain lion were created by the pair in 1937 as part of the Works Progress Administration, a program funded by the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP). Each animal is framed by paired panels of California grass or trees.

Newell and Peticolas art commissions grace many other post offices. Among their most significant municipal works are Eagle in Colton, Horseman in Hollywood, and Transportation of the Mail in San Fernando, all in California.

Gordon Newell was born in Petaluma, California in 1905. He studied at Occidental College and the University of California at Berkeley. Newell returned to Los Angeles to teach at the Chouinard Art School and Occidental College through the 1930s. He taught at the Monterey Sculpture Center in Seaside, California through the 1970s and died in 1998.

Sherry Peticolas, was born in Waterloo, Iowa in 1904 and studied at the University of Southern California. She was active in Los Angeles and worked on the Federal Art Project during the Depression. Peticolas’ important municipal commissions in southern California include the “Power of Water” fountain in Wilshire Center’s Lafeyette Park. Sherry Peticolas died in 1956.

Date: 1937
Collection: Public Art in Non-City Spaces
Owner: United States Postal Service
Medium: Sculptural Relief
Material: Reinforced Plaster

Location
Inglewood High School
300 East Hillcrest Blvd.
Inglewood, California 90301