Colorado Springs artist Sarah Boardman has finished her portrait of President Donald Trump for the Colorado Capitol.
Former State Senate President Kevin Grantham (R-Canon City), who led a $10,000 fundraising effort to commission the work, is now deciding what’s next for the Trump likeness.
“I’m pretty sure there will be some sort of unveiling at some point,” Grantham told the Colorado Times Recorder.
But a date for the unveiling has not been set, and it’s possible the portrait will go up without a ceremony, said Grantham.
Colorado Springs artist Sarah Boardman based her work on a Trump photo and sketch, which shows the president with a “serious, non-confrontational” and “thoughtful” expression, according to Boardman.
Grantham has yet to see Boardman’s finished painting, but he said he was impressed with the work Boardman did on the Obama portrait that hangs in the Capitol along with portraits of other presidents.
“There are people who can capture the essence of people, and I think she did a really great job [on the Obama portrait],” said Grantham.
Asked about criticism that Trump should not be portrayed as “non-confrontational” and “thoughtful,” when he is widely considered confrontational and rash, Boardman said last month:
“I agree that some people think of him that way now, but it is not a universal view which will endure into the future,” Boardman wrote. “There are presidents in the gallery, as it stands, who had very volatile histories, yet we do not look at the portraits in that light today. My choice of references comes from my decision to remain neutral, and let the criticisms stand on their own throughout time.”“
Boardman won an open call to paint an Obama portrait that hangs in the Capitol, and Colorado Creative Industries selected Boardman to paint the Trump portrait “so that the style would match,” according to Ruth Bruno, program manager for Colorado Creative Industries, which served as a liason between the artist and the Capitol. The artist, sketch, and other details were approved by the Capitol Building Advisory Committee.