Ethel Magafan was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 painter.

Magafan was born August 10, 1916, in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

. Raised in Colorado Springs, Colorado

Colorado Springs, Colorado

Colorado Springs is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and most populous city of El Paso County, Colorado, United States. Colorado Springs is located in South-Central Colorado, in the southern portion of the state. It is situated on Fountain Creek and is located south of the Colorado...

, she studied at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center with Frank Mechau, Boardman Robinson

Boardman Robinson

Boardman Robinson was a Canadian-American artist, illustrator and cartoonist.-Early years:Boardman Robinson was born September 6, 1876 in Nova Scotia, Canada. He spent his childhood in England and Canada, before coming to Boston in the first half of the 1890s...

, and Peppino Mangravite, and was a member of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. Ethel and her twin sister, Jenne, became widely known for their mural

Mural

A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...

s painted during the Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

. In the 1930s, Ethel received her first of seven Government commissions when she was commissioned to produce a painting for the US Post Office in Auburn, Nebraska

Auburn, Nebraska

Auburn is a city in Nemaha County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 3,350 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Nemaha County. The City of Auburn is actually an incorporation of two towns. Calvert and Sheridan combined to form Auburn in 1882, in part to have the voting power to...

. Other paintings commissioned by the US Government hang in the United States Senate Chamber

United States Senate Chamber

The United States Senate Chamber is a room in the north wing of the United States Capitol that serves as the legislative chamber of the United States Senate, since January 4, 1859...

, the Social Security Building and the Recorder Deeds Building in Washington D.C., and in U.S. Post Offices in Wynne, Arkansas

Wynne, Arkansas

Wynne is the county seat and largest city of Cross County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 8,615 at the 2000 Census. Nestled between the Arkansas Delta and Crowley's Ridge, Wynne is home to the largest state park in Arkansas, Village Creek State Park.-Geography:Wynne lies at , the...

; Mudill, Oklahoma; and Denver, Colorado

Denver, Colorado

The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...

.

Magafan died in 1993.

Reference

• Biography