In December 1937, the Cincinnati Enquirer interviewed William “Harry” Gothard (1908–1968), a 29-year-old artist and art conservator, as he painted the final touches on two murals created for Lunken Airport’s newly constructed Administration building.

Reaching this point had proved a rough journey! In January 1937, the Ohio River overflowed its banks, cresting at nearly 80 feet—25 feet above flood stage—flooding Lunken’s runways, inundating the new terminal, and destroying its interiors. The devasting event led to the airport’s nickname, “Sunken Lunken.”

Luckily, Gothard painted the murals (each 16 x 6.5 feet) off-site and later installed the giant canvases after the flood waters receded and the structure dried out. Created as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the untitled paintings depict "man weighed down by gravity" and "man up lifted by flight.” The works serve as classic examples of New Deal art, incorporating pictorial references of the local scene, including Cincinnati’s geography, landmarks, and history.

As Gothard painted other murals for the WPA, he annually exhibited smaller works at the Cincinnati Art Museum with nine Cincinnati-based artists known as the New Group. In addition to Gothard, members included Meyer Abel, Paul Craft, Edward Firn, William Gebhardt, Leo Murphy, Olga Mohr, Mathias J. Noheimer, and Richard Zoellner. “This is a group of young moderns,” wrote the Cincinnati Enquirer in 1935, “who have come to the fore during the last few years [as] the Art Museum has been sponsoring their work.”

Gothard later transitioned from making art to conserving it. He led CAM’s conservation efforts as its official conservator for more than 20 years, becoming internationally known as a pioneer in using infrared technology in the conservation of art.

Today, Gothard’s murals sit inside Lunken’s empty terminal building. Closed since 2022, the city-owned structure is no longer accessible to the public; its popular Sky Galley restaurant out of business. What, then, is next for these nearly 90-year-old murals?