Painter Howard Cecil Johnson worked in many of the government art programs in Iowa during the Great Depression. He did mural work with the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) (December 1933- May 1934), mural and easel painting with the Treasury Relief Art Program (TRAP) (November 1935-July 1937), and easel and mural painting along with design and exhibition work with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) (1937-1941). He worked on the Iowa State College (University) mural cycle When Tillage Begins, Other Arts Follow under Grant Wood, murals for the federal courthouse in Cedar Rapids, the Cedar Rapids post office mural, and the Iowa State Fairgrounds mural entitled "History of Agriculture in Iowa". This collection (1932-2002, undated) contains biographical information, correspondence, news clippings, articles, photographs and poems and prose by Johnson. The bulk of the collection contains records related to Johnson's work on New Deal art projects including the Iowa City studio projects, Iowa State University library mural, and the "History of Agriculture in Iowa" mural for the Iowa State Fairgrounds.

Howard Cecil Johnson was born in Griswold, Iowa on April 28, 1913 to Mr. and Mrs. Albert H. Johnson. At the age of two, the family moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa where Johnson attended the public schools and graduated from Grant High School in January 1932. Johnson attended the Stone City Art Colony (Stone City, Iowa) during the summers of 1932 and 1933, attended the University of Iowa (1934) for a special one semester course on mural painting taught by Grant Wood. He also took drawing and painting classes (1932-1933) taught by Adrian Dornbush at the Little Gallery in Cedar Rapids.

Johnson worked in many of the government art programs in Iowa during the Great Depression. He did mural work with the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) (December 1933- May 1934), mural and easel painting with the Treasury Relief Art Program (TRAP) (November 1935-July 1937), and easel and mural painting along with design and exhibition work with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) (1937-1941).

One of the first New Deal art projects Johnson worked on was the Iowa State College (University) library mural cycle When Tillage Begins, Other Arts Follow under Grant Wood. Johnson, along with six other artists from the Stone City Art Colony, was among Wood's first hires for this project on December 22, 1933.

After Johnson finished working on the murals in the Iowa State library, he returned to Cedar Rapids and worked in a studio along with Arthur Pyle, Jack Van Dyke, and other artists he had worked with on the government art programs. The artists joined the Iowa Co-operative Mural Painters (later the Cooperative Artists) in September 1935 as charter members. Under the Treasury Relief Art Program (TRAP), Johnson worked on the murals for the federal courthouse in Cedar Rapids. Johnson also worked on the Cedar Rapids post office mural. He worked for TRAP from November 1935 through June 1937.

In 1937, Johnson transferred from the TRAP to the WPA. One of the major and final government art program projects Johnson worked on was the design and painting of a large mural for the Agriculture Building on the Iowa State Fairgrounds (located in Des Moines) entitled "History of Agriculture in Iowa." The mural was commissioned by the Federal Art Project of the WPA (1938-1939). Johnson worked with another Iowa artist, Daniel Rhodes, on the fairground mural. The mural was torn down in 1946.

While working in the government art programs, Johnson also showed his works in various exhibitions including the National Exhibit of American Art, Iowa State Fair, International Watercolor Exhibition, annual exhibition of American art at the Art Institute of Chicago, Midwestern Exhibition in Kansas City, Joslyn Memorial Museum (Omaha), and other regional and local exhibitions.

After finishing the mural at the Iowa State Fair, Johnson served as instructor at the Ottumwa Art Center, supervising exhibit installation and teaching painting and drawing classes. Johnson accepted the assistant director position, and then served as the acting director, at the Des Moines Art Center in 1941. The Des Moines Art Center had opened in 1941 in cooperation with the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Johnson also worked on the staff of the Sioux City Art Center and later joined the staff of the Collins Radio Company of Cedar Rapids.

Johnson was married to Margaret H. Johnson. Johnson died in 1963.

This collection (1932-2002, undated) contains biographical information, correspondence, news clippings, articles, photographs and poems and prose by Johnson. The bulk of the collection contains records related to Johnson's work on New Deal art projects including the Iowa City studio projects, Iowa State University library mural, and the "History of Agriculture in Iowa" mural for the Iowa State Fairgrounds. The biographical information primarily contains versions of his resume, which lists his education, exhibitions, awards, artworks, people who owned his artwork, and work experience. Included with his resume are the resumes of other Iowa artists working on the New Deal art projects. Most of the material documenting Johnson's work on the New Deal art projects is news clippings and articles, correspondence, and photographs. The photographs include his and others artists' paintings, Grant Wood's Iowa City studio, various projects, and reference photographs for the artwork. Also included are photographs of Johnson and other artists.

Howard Johnson's daughter, Sheryl Barta, collected news clippings and other materials about Johnson and the government art programs after Johnson's death. These materials, along with some correspondence of Barta's, are included in the collection.

Related collection in the Special Collections Department, Iowa State University Library include:

• Gladys E. Hamlin Papers, RS 26/2/51
• Campus Art, RS 4/8/5

The collection is listed alphabetically, with biographical information at the front.