Smiley Building Murals

The Smiley Building received LTAC funding to hire local artist Brad Goodell to paint four WPA-style murals on the exterior of the Smiley Building. On the East side of the building, on the 3rd Ave facing wall, the mural depicts local laborers, miners, and craftspeople doing work in and around Durango.

The Murals depict the work that helped create Durango in the 30's and shaped much of the history of our town. One panel is an up close view of people working on the drive mechanism of the train, another is a local mining scene, the third is of craftspeople working on a plumbing and mechanical project that resembles the Powerhouse, and the last has people running a sawmill. Smiley itself was a WPA project, built in 1936, and which makes it is a perfect place to showcase this time in history.