Historical Panorama of Alabama Agriculture
One of the products for which Walker is most distinguished is the Historical Panorama of Alabama Agriculture, funded by the Works Progress Administration and commissioned by the Alabama Extension Service (now Alabama Cooperative Extension System) for exhibition at the 1939 Alabama State Fair. Walker originally was contracted to paint 29 murals, although severe time constraints limited him to only ten. Assuming that the paintings would be only temporary, Walker used tempera water-color paints rather than costlier, more durable oils — his preferred medium.
Following exhibition at the Alabama State Fair, the paintings were shipped to Shreveport for display at the 1939 Louisiana State Fair. Afterward, they were shipped to the Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University) in Auburn and stored in the Duncan Hall attic for almost a half century before they were rediscovered in the 1980s and refurbished.
Although these murals were designed to be only temporary, they are among the Alabama Cooperative Extension System’s most valued historical artifacts and are considered prime examples of WPA-related art associated with the Great Depression era.
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