About the Artist: John Martin Socha (pronounced So - shay ) was a native Minnesotan when he was commissioned by the Federal Government to execute two monumental murals for the Kiehle Building Auditorium in 1941.  A nationally recognized artist of his time, his work had been exhibited and awarded heavily during the Depression Era and throughout the 1940s.  He also studied with world renown Mexican muralist Diego Rivera.

Well regarded by fellow Works Progress Administration (WPA) artists of the time, Socha's works have been known to be based on his interviews with pioneers, as well as his knowledge of important historic events of the region.  The Kiehle Auditorium murals fall into this category, as they depict various epochs in Minnesota history, including a portrayal of what is thought to be the 1863 Land Cessation Treaty with the regional Dakota (Sioux), Winnebago, and Objibwe tribes.  The cessation map of this region, which is depicted in the east mural, would have included the area of Crookston Minnesota.

The murals were made possible through the efforts of State Art Director Clement Haupers of the Works Progress Administration.  The paintings were considered the best works produced by the artist, whose murals also adorned the walls of the Federal Reserve Bank in Minneapolis, the auditorium of the Winona State Teachers' College, New Ulm High School, St. Luke's Catholic Church of St. Paul, and St. Paul Park High School.  Not all of those murals have survived to the present day.

Socha's work can also be found in the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and many other regional institutions.  As a muralist, he concentrated his efforts in Minnesota.

The murals were formally presented and accepted at the Northwest School of Agriculture graduation ceremonies on Saturday, November 7, 1942.  NWSA Superintendent T. M. McCall noted the historical significance of the murals during the ceremony.  Mrs. C. A. Smith of Grygla, a granddaughter of Chief Little Boy (a signer of the treaty depicted in the east mural), was present at the ceremony.  Her daughter, Myrtle Smith, attended the NWSA.

Click a mural panel to view it in more detail.
Credits