Central High School mural study

A mural study by Columbus, Ohio, artist Emerson Burkhart depicting a musical scene. This is one of many studies for murals commissioned to Burkhart in 1930s, some of them funded by the Works Progress Administration. It is most likely a sketch done for the Burkhart WPA mural executed in 1936 on the area above the stage in the Central High School auditorium. Burkhart (1905-1969) was an artist very well known to Columbus residents during his lifetime. He was born in Union Township, Ohio. After graduating from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1927, he moved to the East Coast and studied art under the direction of Charles Hawthorne, among others. He returned to Ohio in 1931 to teach at Ohio School of Art in Columbus. He painted 3,000 pieces during his career, many of which were portraits of Ohio residents. In addition to painting local street scenes and rural landscapes, he is also known for numerous self-portraits. He was married to Mary Ann Burkhart, née Martin (1918-1955), a famous New York art model who became an artist herself