In 2018, Senate Republicans in Colorado launched a fundraiser to raise the $10,000 needed to commission the portrait.
A portrait of President Donald Trump on the Colorado State Capitol is defeated after the president dismisses the image as “really the worst” and demands its removal.
The portrait was commissioned during Trump’s first term and has been hung in the Hall of Fame of the President of Capitol Rotunda for nearly six years.
“Sarah has always been passionate about painting portraits, especially intriguing with depth and personality. “Sarah believes the ultimate challenge is to capture an individual’s “personality, personality, soul” in a two-dimensional form. โ
“Portraits are not designed solely for the facts of the population,” she told Times Recorder. “It’s always disputed, so pleasing one group always inflams another. I consider neutrally thoughtful, non-confrontational portraits.
Her artistic decision at the time attracted criticism from Democrats who didn’t see the president in the same way.
The Colorado Senate Republicans led an effort to fund Trump portraits after Coloradoans, a nonprofit that commissions presidential portraits, failed to secure sufficient donations.
In 2018, Trump’s designated spot remained empty, but an aide to Santa Duran, a Democrat and then-house speaker, helped an activist group steal a portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin from Capitol. The portrait was placed in an easel under the free space reserved for the cards.
Portraits of the other 43 presidents of the Colorado Rotunda were painted by Lawrence Williams. He died before he could add an Obama portrait to his collection.
A Colorado House Democrat said in a statement Monday that the painting will be removed at the request of Republican lawmakers, adding, “If the GOP wants to spend the time and money hanging in the Capitol, it’s up to them.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.