A portrait of President Barack Obama will join 43 other presidential portraits in the state Capitol’s third-floor rotunda, thanks to a fundraising drive given a boost from former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb and his wife, former state Rep. Wilma Webb.
The couple announced Monday that they had donated $2,500 to the effort to commission the painting and helped raise the remaining money.
An Arizona couple in 1979 donated to the state a set of presidents’ portraits from George Washington through Jimmy Carter that were painted by Massachusetts artist Lawrence Williams. Portraits the artist painted of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush were later purchased with state funds and added to the collection.
President Bill Clinton’s portrait was loaned and ultimately obtained for the collection after some back-and-forth with the Clinton Library. A Williams portrait of George W. Bush also has been added.
Colorado Springs artist Sara Boardman has been commissioned to paint Obama’s portrait in Williams’ style. Williams died in 2003.
The Denver Post; Denver Post file photo
