The People Wall

The People Wall, City Hall, Corning, New York

The People Wall book is now available for purchase! It is being sold by the Corning-Painted Post Historical Society as a fundraiser. All proceeds will benefit their efforts to preserve our local history. ---Barbara Blumer

After three years of research and community collaboration, the puzzle of the People Wall has been solved. Find out who the 150 people selected for the mural are and why they are dressed in 1970's vintage clothing, frozen in time, since 1976. Find out who wasn’t selected for the mural.

Find out why they are bigger-than-life-sized-images, and why the mural is longer than the length of three Olympic-sized swimming pools. Find out why it was commissioned for the USA Bicentennial and the opening of the new City Hall back in 1976.

Find out who the internationally acclaimed photographer Elliott Erwitt is. See their photos. Read their stories. Learn fun facts about the history of the mural, the city of Corning, now versus then, why murals matter and much, much more. It's a true-life story about civic pride, then and now.

Now you have the opportunity to acquire the book and support a good cause, too!

All proceeds benefit the C-PP Historical Society and their efforts to preserve our local history.

Author: Barbara Hall Blumer (pronounced bloomer)

Title: People Wall ’76: The Mural in City Hall

208 pages. Size: 9” x 11” x 1” Weight: 2 lbs.

Over 225 color images on 100 lb. silk text paper

Printed locally. Spiral bound, designed to open flat and to be easy to read.

All proceeds go to benefit the Corning-Painted Post Historical Society and the Heritage Village of the Southern Finger Lakes. 501(c)(3) nonprofit

$76 plus tax (shipping is available)

15 Second Flip Video of Book

Use the QR code below or this link or call CPPHS at 607-937-5281 to reserve a copy. 👏

To order:

Hover over the QR code to go directly to the secure shopping page.

Or purchase online click on this link

Or stop by their shop at 73 W. Pulteney, Corning, New York, hours: M-F, 10 am to 4 pm. Parking in rear.

Or call to arrange to pay by check.

Makes a great gift!

Need help ordering the book?

Contact Soni Lacey

cpphs@heritagevillagesfl.org

607-937-5281

The book is designed to be enjoyable to read even if you don't know the people in the mural. Here's just some of what's included:

What is the People Wall?

A unique, one-of-a kind Work of Public Art, innovative for its time. Created back in 1976 by the City of Corning, New York and Corning Glass Works Foundation for the City's citizens. A supersized photographic mural of bigger-than-life-sized images of over 150 people from all walks of life line the walls of Corning, New York's City Hall. This was done long before the advent of large format printing (they used historically significant, leading-edge Scanchrome technology) when the norm for portraits of people was only as big as an 8x10" headshot. The mural is a slice of Americana, a portrait of the city's people in 1976 for the USA Bicentennial and the opening of the new Nasser Civic Center. It was a symbol of community unity after recovering from a devastating flood just four years prior. Civic Pride. Comeback City. Community Character. The artist is world reknown photographer Elliott Erwitt.

Who are the People?

See all 150 in the mural

Tap photo or use arrows to see 5 examples

Everyone has been identified and verified.

We list their name, role and address in 1976

A companion story has been written for each panel.

Why were they chosen?

What were their roles back in 1976?

Read their stories.

It's 208 pages.

Are the Bride & Groom still married?

Was the lobster real?

Learn other interesting fun facts about the culture of Corning then and now.

It's all about 1976.

The price of the book is $76 as a nod to 1976 , the year the People Wall was created for the Bicentennial and the opening of the new City Hall.

It includes never-seen-before photos of additional people who were photographed but not chosen for the People Wall, like Community Relations Leader Charlie McGrady.

Over 350 people were recruited to be photographed, from mail carrier to scientist, a cross-section of Corning's citizens. But only 150 were ultimately chosen for the mural.

A Cool Concept

The Story of How the People Wall came to be

The Flood of '72

A story of devastation and recovery

Bicentennial Fever in 1976

and how it influenced the People Wall

Who is Elliott Erwitt?

The Photographer

Why Murals Matter.

What is Public Art?

Urban Renewal in Corning

Market Street Restoration

Photos of Corning City Hall

Then and Now

Mayor Nasser's Legacy

What is Brutalism?

The Architecture of Corning City Hall

Innovative for its time, a unique work of public art, since 1976

What is a Scanachrome?

Why are they historically significant?

1976-2002 Original Scanachromes

25 years of wear & tear

why they had to come down

2003 Replacement with Digital Versions

same people

new, improved color

2012 Modifications

first floor copies

Courtroom Expansion

Just how big is it?

Where is Corning, New York?

Why it's special.

Photos of it today.

Publications featuring the People Wall

The NYTimes article

June 5, 1976

same day

The People Wall was revealed

Bicentennial

House & Garden

July 1976

8-page feature

in Architectural Record

December, 1976

Teaching Guide

in Scholastic Magazine

October, 1976

The international art magazine feature in Zoom

in 1977

The People Wall Project

Why does the People Wall matter?

Background on the Project to Collect the History of the Mural

Back then everybody knew everybody but almost 50 years later, it is the intent of this project to capture the history of the People Wall, researching and identifying who's who and their stories, before the information is lost.

In addition, it is our goal to provide fun facts for the viewers of today. Cultural norms have changed significantly since 1976 when the People Wall mural was frozen in time. Much can be learned by looking closely at the people then versus the people of today.

The information can be used to teach citizenship for community constituents, including young children, and to provide cultural context for visitors to the mural in person or virtually.

The list of contributors to the research is over 400 and still growing...