The Crump Mural

M.K. Ziegner
1942

Interior of the Crump Theater

M.K. Ziegner, an American folk artist active in the early mid-century, painted this patriotic mural in 1942 following the theater’s 1941 renovation. The work features an outline of the contiguous United States along with symbols of American past and progress, including an eagle, a Native American, a buffalo, the Statue of Liberty, a frontiersman with a covered wagon, a working man with a wrench and hammer, as well as depictions of a plane, train, ship, factory, and skyscraper.

Ziegner was known for his large-scale, America-centric murals, often commissioned for theaters in the industrial belt. His straightforward, realistic style—valued for its simplicity and purity—captured national identity without embellishment. Today, his works are considered rare, with only a handful coming to market in the past two decades.