Former Gov. Bill Owens wanted a bi-partisan turn-out at the unveiling today of his dignified, oil-on-canvas portrait to hang inside the state Capitol.
So the Republican figured out a way to coax Democratic House Speaker Andrew Romanoff to say a few complimentary words at the ceremony.
He called him and started out, “Andrew, you know how you’ve always wanted to attend my public hanging in the Capitol?”
Owens, who spent 24 years under the gold dome as state representative, senator, treasurer and then governor, was full of grins and jokes this week as state leaders said their final public good- byes.
“The only job better than governor is being an ex-governor,” he told Gov. Bill Ritter, who had the honor of pulling a royal blue cover off Owens’ portrait. “I can say that after five months. It’s really, really true.”
Indeed, Owens’ post-governor career has been lucrative – he already has three private-sector jobs.
As vice chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group’s Greenwich, Conn., unit, he will travel the world looking for private- sector money for public airports, roads and ports.
He joined the University of Denver’s Institute for Public Policy Studies as a senior fellow. And Owens formed a commercial real-estate investment venture with two businessmen.
Several Colorado leaders roasted the former governor during a banquet Tuesday night, where Attorney General John Suthers let everyone in on one of Owens’ secrets.
When talking publicly about a nemesis, Owens typically referred to the person as “my good friend.”
“Heaven forbid if he called someone his very good friend,” Suthers said, drawing laughs from many of the 300 politicians and community leaders at the dinner, which benefited DU.
Ritter joked that when Owens was governor, he used to play a game called “If ever I were governor.”
“Then you get to be governor and it’s not such a fun game,” Ritter said.
Owens’ portrait – a 2 1/2- by-3-foot painting of him standing in a library in a navy-blue suit and red tie – will hang in the Capitol foyer with six other governor portraits. The Capitol has held other paintings of governors, but those were returned to their families.
Denver artist Bob Olson painted Owens using several photographs that captured shadows on his face and jacket.
Denver businessman Bryant Martin paid for the portrait. He declined to say how much it cost him.
Colorado Department of Transportation executive director Russ George, who was House speaker while Owens was governor, said he hoped school children would see the portrait and ask about the former governor.
“Art will motivate and inspire,” George said. “It causes us to remember those eras in time. It’s going to bring a smile to my face.”
Staff writer Jennifer Brown can be reached at 303-954-1593 or jenbrown@denverpost.com.
