Latest news with #LoisCourt
Al Arabiya
2 days ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
New Trump Portrait Donated by White House Hangs in Colorado Capitol After Earlier One Drew His Ire
A presidential portrait with Donald Trump's approval now hangs in the Colorado Capitol after his complaints got a previous one of him taken down. The new portrait by Tempe, Arizona, artist Vanessa Horabuena is a sterner, crisper image than Sarah Boardman's painting of Trump that had hung since 2019. Last spring, Trump posted on social media that Boardman must have lost her talent as she got older and purposely distorted him – criticisms the Colorado Springs artist denied. The next day, lawmakers announced they would remove the portrait from a wall of past presidents. By the day after that, Boardman's painting was gone, put into museum storage. The Horabuena portrait, donated by the White House a month or so ago, went up this week after a Thursday decision by Lois Court, a former state lawmaker who chairs the Capitol Building Advisory Committee that helps select artwork for the Capitol in downtown Denver. 'There was a blank on the wall. It seemed inappropriate. We knew that the White House had sent us this replacement, and it simply made sense to put it up,' Court said. 'The White House donated the Horabuena portrait a month or so ago,' Court said. Horabuena is a Christian worship artist who has done several other depictions of Trump as well as Abraham Lincoln, Mount Rushmore, and Jesus Christ, according to her website. On Tuesday, the Colorado statehouse was sleepy with lawmakers out of session and no schoolchildren visiting the historic building. A smattering of tourists took photos of the new portrait. Horabuena did not return a phone message Tuesday seeking comment. 'Thank you to the Highly Talented Artist Vanessa Horabuena and the incredible people of Colorado!' Trump posted Tuesday on his social media platform Truth Social. The portrait and others of past presidents might not remain up for long. The advisory committee is considering whether to replace them with portraits of past governors to mark the 150th anniversary of Colorado statehood next year.
The Independent
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
New Trump portrait donated by White House hangs in Colorado Capitol after earlier one drew his ire
A presidential portrait with Donald Trump 's approval now hangs in the Colorado Capitol after his complaints got a previous one of him taken down. The new portrait by Tempe, Arizona, artist Vanessa Horabuena is a sterner, crisper image than Sarah Boardman's painting of Trump that had hung since 2019. Last spring, Trump posted on social media that Boardman 'must have lost her talent as she got older' and 'purposely distorted' him, criticisms the Colorado Springs artist denied. The next day, lawmakers announced they would remove the portrait from a wall of past presidents. By the day after that, Boardman's painting was gone, put into museum storage. The Horabuena portrait donated by the White House a month or so ago went up this week after a Thursday decision by Lois Court, a former state lawmaker who chairs the Capitol Building Advisory Committee that helps select artwork for the Capitol in downtown Denver. "There was a blank on the wall. It seemed inappropriate. We knew that the White House had sent us this replacement and it simply made sense to put it up,' Court said. The White House donated the Horabuena portrait a month or so ago, said Court. Horabuena is a 'Christian worship artist' who has done several other depictions of Trump as well as Abraham Lincoln, Mount Rushmore and Jesus Christ, according to her website. On Tuesday, the Colorado statehouse was sleepy with lawmakers out of session and no schoolchildren visiting the historic building. A smattering of tourists took photos of the new portrait. Horabuena did not return a phone message Tuesday seeking comment. 'Thank you to the Highly Talented Artist, Vanessa Horabuena, and the incredible people of Colorado,' Trump posted Tuesday on his social media platform, Truth Social. The portrait and others of past presidents might not remain up for long. The advisory committee is considering whether to replace them with portraits of past governors to mark the 150th anniversary of Colorado statehood next year. ___ AP videojournalist Thomas Peipert in Denver contributed to this report.
Associated Press
2 days ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
New Trump portrait donated by White House hangs in Colorado Capitol after earlier one drew his ire
A presidential portrait with Donald Trump's approval now hangs in the Colorado Capitol after his complaints got a previous one of him taken down. The new portrait by Tempe, Arizona, artist Vanessa Horabuena is a sterner, crisper image than Sarah Boardman's painting of Trump that had hung since 2019. Last spring, Trump posted on social media that Boardman 'must have lost her talent as she got older' and 'purposely distorted' him, criticisms the Colorado Springs artist denied. The next day, lawmakers announced they would remove the portrait from a wall of past presidents. By the day after that, Boardman's painting was gone, put into museum storage. The Horabuena portrait donated by the White House a month or so ago went up this week after a Thursday decision by Lois Court, a former state lawmaker who chairs the Capitol Building Advisory Committee that helps select artwork for the Capitol in downtown Denver. 'There was a blank on the wall. It seemed inappropriate. We knew that the White House had sent us this replacement and it simply made sense to put it up,' Court said. The White House donated the Horabuena portrait a month or so ago, said Court. Horabuena is a 'Christian worship artist' who has done several other depictions of Trump as well as Abraham Lincoln, Mount Rushmore and Jesus Christ, according to her website. On Tuesday, the Colorado statehouse was sleepy with lawmakers out of session and no schoolchildren visiting the historic building. A smattering of tourists took photos of the new portrait. Horabuena did not return a phone message Tuesday seeking comment. 'Thank you to the Highly Talented Artist, Vanessa Horabuena, and the incredible people of Colorado,' Trump posted Tuesday on his social media platform, Truth Social. The portrait and others of past presidents might not remain up for long. The advisory committee is considering whether to replace them with portraits of past governors to mark the 150th anniversary of Colorado statehood next year. ___ AP videojournalist Thomas Peipert in Denver contributed to this report.
The Independent
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
White House donates photo of Trump to Colorado Capitol to replace ‘purposefully distorted' painting of the president
The White House has donated a portrait of Donald Trump to the Colorado Capitol to replace one that the president hates. The new artwork, which appears to depict Trump's official photograph, is set to replace a painting the president claimed had been 'purposely distorted' in an alleged petty plot by Colorado Governor Jared Polis. The decision to replace the portrait was made on Thursday by Lois Court, chair of the Colorado Capitol Building Advisory Committee, which is responsible for overseeing the historic preservation of the building. 'It is currently being framed,' Court, a Denver Democrat, told the Colorado Sun. Court told the newspaper she made the decision with two Democratic state legislators on the advisory committee. The committee is reportedly weighing whether to remove presidential portraits altogether to make room for paintings of Colorado's governors. 'In due time,' Court said, 'we will have a thorough discussion about all the presidential portraits.' Colorado Republicans raised over $10,000 to commission the portrait by artist Sarah Boardman, which was unveiled in 2019 during the president's first term. The painting was removed in March after the president flew into a fit of rage and said that Boardman made former President Barack Obama look 'wonderful' but him look 'truly the worst.' Along with his own calls to remove the painting, Trump alleged that Colorado natives had been left furious about the portrait, urging state officials to pull it down. 'She must have lost her talent as she got older,' Trump said in his March Truth Social rant. Boardman said in April that the situation was 'directly and negatively impacting my business of over 41 years, which now is in danger of not recovering.' In a separate interview with the Colorado Times, she claimed that personal politics don't influence her work. The president seized on the moment to take a swipe at Polis and his policies, referencing members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which had a presence in Aurora, Colorado, last year. 'I am speaking on their behalf to the Radical Left Governor, Jared Polis, who is extremely weak on Crime, in particular with respect to Tren de Aragua, which practically took over Aurora (Don't worry, we saved it!), to take it down,' he continued. 'Jared should be ashamed of himself!' Polis, however, wasn't behind the painting, which was commissioned in 2018, months before he took office and a year before it was finally unveiled. Earlier that year, a political activist had snuck into the State Capitol with help from an advisor to Colorado's Democratic House Speaker, Crisanta Duran. A large painting of Russian President Vladimir Putin was erected where Trump's portrait was meant to hang. It came after Republicans reportedly could not raise the funds required to commission the picture of Trump. After the stunt, Kevin Grantham, a Republican who served as president of the Colorado Senate, raised more than $10,000 through GoFundMe for the portrait.
