Abram Champanier's WPA Alice Mural

Under the Federal WPA program, Abram Champanier created this multi-panel mural in the late 30’s to decorate a Children’s Ward in the old Gouverner Hospital at 162 Water Street in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The hospital closed in 1962 and the building was abandoned. The building suffered severe disrepair and the mural sustained considerable damage due to lack of heat and water intrusion into the hospital’s interior spaces. The murals were salvaged in 1981 when the building was threatened with demolition. Salvage was organized and executed by the Alan Farancz Painting Conservation Studio. Pictured here is "Bon Voyage" after salvage. It is covered with arice paper "facing" which held the paint in place during removal of the linen support from the plaster hospital wall.

The mural suffered severe deterioration of the presenting paint layers due to environmental conditions within the unheated, leaking hospital interior. From notes provided by the Alan Farancz Painting Conservation Studio, “…There is interlayer cleavage throughout. There are scattered areas of paint loss (mostly of the upper final layer) throughout the surface. There are areas where large sections of the final paint layer have separated from the under painting and are just being held in place by the varnish layer. There is indication that sometime after the steam damage, the mural was varnished with a natural resin varnish/ linseed oil mixture (evident from UV examination.) In addition, there is dirt incorporated into the varnish layer. There is a thick layer of dirt on the surface, drips and accretions. UV examination reveals restoration to highlight and or to outline and darken some areas. The painting has been previously cleaned or washed. There is abrasion to paint nubs…” This photo shows "Bon Voyage" after consolidation of the flaking paint layers and after removal of the rice paper facing.

This photo shows "Bon Voyage" during cleaning, which required dissolving a dirt entraining oil varnish with a solvent gel. The verso of all of the mural canvases were also cleaned of plaster debris and remnants of the white lead adhesive which was used to attach the mural to the plaster wall.

Here is "Bon Voyage" after cleaning and prior to cosmetic reconstruction. We mended any tears and inserted canvas into areas of loss prior to lining the mural panels to new linen canvases, which allowed us to then attach the panels to stretchers.

"Bon Voyage" after conservation. In the 1980’s, 5 murals were conserved by the Alan Farancz Painting Conservation Studio and reintroduced into NYC Health and Hospital's Art Collection for display at HHC facilities. 10 murals remained in storage until Foreground Conservation was asked by NYCHHC, in late 2019, to conduct a survey of their condition and develop a proposal for conservation and restoration. Conservation of these remaining panels began during the Covid pandemic.

The entire mural is reunited at the Museum of the City of New York in June 2026. Foreground Conservation was asked, in the development phase of this exhibition, to recreate 2 missing mural panels. "Fishing" and "Statue of Liberty" were recreated by referencing historic photographs taken by the WPA to document Abram Champanier's finished and installed mural. The recreated panels were fabricated with materials and techniques similar to those utilized by Champanier.

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