Belle Goldschlager Baranceanu (July 17, 1902 – January 17, 1988) was an American painter, teacher, muralist, lithographer, engraver and illustrator.[1]
She was born Belle Goldschlager in Chicago, Illinois (Baranceanu was her mother's maiden name).[2] Her parents, both Romanian Jewish immigrants,[3] separated during Belle's early childhood, and she grew up on her maternal grandparents' farm in North Dakota.[4]
She painted an oil-on canvas-mural in the La Jolla post office (Scenic View of the Village) in 1936 for the Section of Painting and Sculpture.[6] As a muralist for the Works Progress Administration curriculum project, she painted murals for Roosevelt Junior High School (Building Padre Dam and Potola's Departure) in 1937–38.[7] Between 1939 and 1940 she completed a WPA mural titled The Seven Arts in the La Jolla High School Auditorium.[4][7]