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To those of you who mourned the loss of the grandest public space in Des Moines and miss it to this day, cheer up! The Main Library building on the river is in process of becoming the World Food Prize Hall of Laureates. With just a few more thousand left to raise toward their $29 million fundraising goal, the World Food Prize is moving ahead with plans to create a space in honor of Norman Borlaug (and if you don’t know who he is, let Penn Gillette tell you) and as a teaching facility for up and coming agricultural scientists. Most parts will be re-opened to the public and the grounds surrounding the building will be redesigned into a beautiful garden.

Last week, my friend Jim and I got permission from the World Food Prize folks to enter the building and photograph the WPA murals in the basement as well as the architectural features of the rest of the interior. (Jim’s photos will appear in Part 2.)

These murals in the lowest level of the library were begun in 1937 under the public art murals department of the WPA headed up by Grant Wood. Harry Donald Jones led this project and it was completed in 1941 with the help of over a dozen local artists, all funded by the WPA. The title of the mural is “A Social History of Des Moines.”

Next up, Part 2! Jim got some great shots of the nooks and crannies in the upper levels. Check back for a glimpse into all those off-limits places you were always curious about as a kid.