Dorothy Wagner Puccinelli
Dorothy Wagner Puccinelli, also known as Dorothy Puccinelli Cravath, was a WPA-era artist and muralist based in San Francisco, California.Biography
Born as Dorothy Wagner on December 19, 1901 in San Antonio, Texas, at age five her family moved and settling in Half Moon Bay, California. In 1919, she enrolled at the California School of Fine Arts and then continued in 1925 at the Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design in San Francisco to studied with Beniamino Bufano.
Her first marriage was to artist Raymond Puccinelli which ended in divorce. In 1941, Dorothy married Austin Cravath and together they had a daughter named Anne.
In 1937, Puccinelli created a 6′ x 8′ tempera-on-canvas mural called Vacheros at the post office in Merced, California. The mural was funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.
In 1939, Puccinelli worked with artist, Helen Katharine Forbes to paint the interior four panel murals of the Mother's Building at the San Francisco Zoo. The four murals depict a Noah's Ark-theme with animals and were funded by Federal Art Project and Works Progress Administration. From 1978 until 2002, the Mother's Building served as a gift shop for the zoo, the mural is now in need of restoration and the room is only used for special events.
