Carlos Lopez (artist)

In 1936, Carlos Lopez created Plymouth Trail mural for a new post office in Plymouth as requested by Wyatt O. Hendrick and Louis Simon. The Plymouth Trail describe to be a distinguished of colorful historical scene setting for it invites the viewers to reflect upon the industrialization and capitalist development in each narratives in the paintings. The lower three panels illustrated the narrative of Plymouth's pioneer history during the 1930s while the main painting present a simple scene of transportation and trade in small town at 1860s. The Michigan post office's murals deploy allegory to celebrated the bounty of the American landscapes, Lopez's mural created a zone that critique the narratives of histories of racism, labor, and settler-colonialism.[13]

Lopez and other artists were requested to capture the “American style” of realistically portraying the ordinary citizens from different parts of communities. They were encouraged to produce works that were appropriate to the communities and be in accessible open locations for the citizens while keeping in mind to avoid controversial subjects. Lopez focused on the future of communities and businesses in his work while it displayed the narrative form of historical events in an uplifting tone.

In 1940, Carlos Lopez created the Bounty mural for the post office in Paw Paw, MI. Using a distinct illustrative style reflective of American popular culture, the upper panel of the mural shows the rich agricultural bounty of the prosperous Michigan farming communities of Van Buren County.[1] The lower panel of the mural, painted in small sections between the postmaster door and bulletin boards, hints at a subterranean scene of tree roots, bedrock and coal seams.

In 1942, Carlos Lopez joined World War II as a war artist with the US War Department. They requested him to be part of the “Soldiers of Production” to create visual records of tanks and anti-aircraft guns’ war production in the United States. The Works Process Administration-era mural were used to portraying the realistic into the community, and Lopez decided to create an artwork to record the deeds of African Americans. Lopez's Shaw at Fort Wagner reflect the historical event of Young-Union African American soldiers facing in battle grounds during Civil War. The painting illustrated the scene of memorable moment during the assaulted at Fort Wanger in 1863 where Union Colonel Robert Gould Shaw died during the battle as black soldiers carried his body away from the battlefield.[14] His work been displayed to the Recorder of Deeds building that was housed in the DC Court of Appeals before became part of Cultural Tourism DC attraction as part of African American Heritage Trail.[15]

Lopez has faced heavy criticism that is considered controversial for the disagreement of the appearance in one of his murals, “Pioneer Society’s Picnic”. In 1942, Lopez received a $1,400 government-sponsored commission to paint a tempera mural in the Birmingham, Michigan post office.[16] They wanted a mural to be displayed on the east wall above a bulletin board to open the new post office. Lopez selected the image from 1850 of the residents in Birmingham and Oakland County gathered for an annual picnic for his typical pioneer scene. Lopez added details if early historical photographs and portraits of a few Birmingham residents that he used as models during the creation of the mural. The features in the mural were taken from other sources as part of inspiration like Leonardo da Vinci's The Virgin and Child with St. Anne an the Infant St. John of 1498. During the production of his painting, the community started to feel hostile towards Lopez for not only being the outsider, but they also accused him of being unfamiliar with their culture due to subjects’ racial features in his mural. His mural was almost destroyed but was protected by Joseph Sparks and Zoltan Sepeshy, director of Cranbrook Academy of Art and Lopez's old friend.[16]