10. Jack and the Beanstalk Mural in the Museo del Barrio
Photo courtesy El Museo del Barrio
The Heckscher Theatre was constructed in 1922, in the Heckscher Foundation for Children at 1230 Fifth Avenue. It was built to house free productions for orphans and sick children and went on to host W.P.A. Federal Theatre Project’s Theatre for Youth program in the 1930s and was the original site for the Joseph Papp New York Shakespeare Festival. Today, the building is used by El Museo del Barrio. The illustrator Willy Pogany designed the pre-Raphaelite murals decorating the theater’s walls. The murals depict scenes from children’s stories including “Hansel and Gretel,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “Little Red Riding Hood.”