Janet W. Hessling Fine Art Conservation

Laying the Cornerstone of the University of North Carolina, 1793 was commissioned from Dean Cornwell in 1940 for the Post Office in Chapel Hill, North Carolina by the WPA (Works Progress Administration) Artists Program.

It is one of more than 15 murals painted for post offices in North Carolina. The Town of Chapel Hill now owns the Post Office building on Franklin Street. The Town hired Janet Hessling through the Outside Conservation Services program of the North Carolina Museum of Art to clean the mural in 1993, as the University celebrated its bicentennial. The painting and its canvas support were in good condition, but its appearance was darkened by almost fifty years of grime and dust. Cornwell's characteristically brilliant colors once more shine forth.