Topic: Hidden Murals at SDSU

Speaker: Shannon Farnsworth

The discipline of historical archaeology has often looked inward and debated its own definition and parameters. At no point have practitioners in the field explicitly omitted art or gone out of their way to exclude any kind of material culture. I argue here that historical archaeologists can and should be actively studying, conserving, and protecting these artifacts. Recent archaeological discoveries and preservation efforts at San Diego State University by the Lost Murals of San Diego State Project succeeded in discovering, rescuing, restoring, and publicly displaying multiple hidden and long-since forgotten historical murals painted on campus dating from 1936 through 1976. Additional historical murals from SDSU’s campus dating to the same time period have been identified, but either have been destroyed or are awaiting restoration. Through the lens of social art history and using the anthropological method of thick description, I use these historical murals as a case study to demonstrate how this sort of artwork should be considered an important and viable artifact worthy of archaeological study, conservation, and protection.