walked in here i saw that i got the goose bumps. >> reporter: two paintings by the late artist sophie brannon were the beginning of what mike found. in back rooms, basements and behind boxes a dozen other works of art all with one thing in common. at the height of the great depression, the works progress administration or wpa, put millions of unemployed americans back to work. that included artists. hundreds of thousands of pieces were commissioned, then placed in public spaces, like libraries all over the country. the government then promptly lost track of most of them. >> sometimes records were nonexistent, facilities closed, administrations changed and lose track of the artwork. >> reporter: but a few years ago mike's bosses at general services administration decided to track down the lost works of art. they reached out to mike and mike started reaching out to others with a few bump as long the way. >> i have to say, when i first got the e-mail i just looked at mike's job title and i thought, oh my gosh, what have i don't? he shuffled all of these. >> reporter: but shannon was the san mate