Ralph Christian Henricksen (1907 in Chicago, IL, USA – 1975 in East Lansing, MI, USA) was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 born art educator, watercolorist, painter, and muralist.

Education

The son of Danish immigrant parents, Ralph Henricksen's father was a master craftsman who did decorative work in elegant homes and public buildings. He graduated from Hyde Park High School

Hyde Park High School

Hyde Park High School may refer to:*Hyde Park High School in Hyde Park, Boston, US*Hyde Park High School in Johannesburg, South Africa- See also :...

 and earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago, and his Master of Fine Arts from Instituto Allende in Mexico City

Mexico City

Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

. He also studied with Boris Anisfeld

Boris Anisfeld

Boris Israëlevich Anisfeld was a Russian-American painter and theater designer.-Biography:1878 - October 2. Boris Israelevich Anisfeld is born in Bieltsy, in the Russian province of Bessarabia, into the family of Srul Ruvinovich Anisfeld, an estate manager, and Gitlya Istkovna Anisfeld. Until he...

.

Career

Henricksen did much of his work in Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

 as a painter, where his murals were commissioned by Illinois Arts and Crafts Projects, as part of the Works Progress Administration

Works Progress Administration

The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...

 (WPA) during the 1930s and 1940s. Some of these are found at Gorton Community Center (Lake Forest

Lake Forest, Illinois

Lake Forest is an affluent city located in Lake County, Illinois, United States. The city is south of Waukegan along the shore of Lake Michigan, and is a part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the North Shore. Lake Forest was founded around Lake Forest College and was laid out as a town in...

, IL), Horace Mann School

Horace Mann Elementary School (Oak Park, Illinois)

Horace Mann Elementary School is an American primary school in Oak Park, Illinois. Operated by Oak Park Elementary School District, the school teaches kindergarten to fifth grade and had 420 students and a pupil/teacher ratio of 13.8 in 2003...

, (Oak Park

Oak Park, Illinois

Oak Park, Illinois is a suburb bordering the west side of the city of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is the twenty-fifth largest municipality in Illinois. Oak Park has easy access to downtown Chicago due to public transportation such as the Chicago 'L' Blue and Green lines,...

, IL), and Hookway School (former Cecil A. Partee

Cecil A. Partee

Cecil A. Partee was an Illinois African American legislator. He was the first black to serve both as President of the Illinois State Senate and Cook County's State Attorney. He was also Chicago Treasurer for three terms....

 School; present day Lenart Regional Gifted Center

Lenart Regional Gifted Center

Ted Lenart Regional Gifted Center is located in the southeast side of Chicago Chatham neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois Lenart School serves grades K-8 with a selective enrollment program for gifted students. The school is part of the Chicago Public Schools, CPS, system...

), and at West Pullman Schools, the latter two located in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, IL. Other public buildings where his work is present are Scott Field

Scott Air Force Base

Scott Air Force Base is a base of the United States Air Force in St. Clair County, Illinois, near Belleville.-Overview:The base is named after Corporal Frank S. Scott, the first enlisted person to be killed in an aviation crash...

 (IL), and The Park District Administration Building (IL). Murals were also commissioned to him as part of the Treasury Section of Fine Arts at the Stanton

Stanton Township, Champaign County, Illinois

Stanton Township is a township in Champaign County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 474.-History:Stanton Township formed from a portion of St. Joseph Township on an unknown date. The first settler in the township was called Samuel McClughen, who came from Ohio in 1834....

 (IL) and Monroe

Monroe, Michigan

Monroe is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 20,733 at the 2010 census. It is the largest city and county seat of Monroe County. The city is bordered on the south by Monroe Charter Township, but both are politically independent. The city is located approximately 14 miles ...

 (Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

) Post Offices. He exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago

Art Institute of Chicago

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...

, the Museum of Modern Art

Museum of Modern Art

The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...

, and Phillips Gallery. He taught at Michigan State University

Michigan State University

Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...

 at East Lansing until his retirement.