Controversial courthouse murals may be moved to Columbia College
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Boone County Commission will introduce a plan to move the Boone County Courthouse murals to Columbia College, where the original artist was a faculty member.
The murals, which fell under fire earlier this year for the subject's controversial nature, were removed from the courthouse in October.
The artist, Sidney Larson, was a faculty member at Columbia College, and there is an art gallery named after him on campus. Columbia College has offered to take the murals. The commission will do a first reading of the proposed plan Thursday afternoon.
The now-removed murals used to hang above the courthouse stairs. The paintings depict imagines of whipping, hangings and instances of slave labor building the courthouse.
Larson, the mural artist, taught in Columbia College's Visual Arts and Music for 50 years. Larson has public art displayed around Columbia and Jefferson City, such as the Columbia Public Library and the Jefferson City Municipal BuildÂing.
