Lucia Wiley


Sr. Lucia Wiley was a noted WPA muralist and painter born and raised in Tillamook, Oregon. Lucia Wiley was the oldest of six children and always found herself interested in art, even at a young age. In 1923 Wiley stated "He who has an art has every where a part," in her high school yearbook. In 1924 Wiley started college at the University of Minnesota where she pursued a degree in fine arts. In 1928 she transferred to the University of Oregon to further her studies and in 1930, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in fine arts. Lucia went on to further her schooling and graduated with a Masters in Fine Arts from the University of Oregon. Her work appears in several U.S. Post Offices, including one titled Captain Gray Entering Tillamook Bay in Tillamook, and at the University of Oregon at Eugene. In 1939 Wiley painted a WPA commissioned mural titled Early Logging at Koochichin Falls for the United States post office in International Falls, Minnesota. She painted the mural decoration, Occupations, at the Miller Vocational High School in Minneapolis, Minnesota.