Boone County Commission votes to move courthouse murals to ‘secure location’
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Boone County Commission voted Thursday to remove two courthouse murals that had come under public scrutiny.
The commission decided to move the murals, created in 1994, to a secure location where they can be appropriately maintained, after initially rejecting an order that would require the county to store them until a place to display them can be found.
The new order proposed by Nothern District Commissioner Janet Thompson to move the art to a secure location passed 2-0, with Presiding Commission Dan Atwill abstaining.
Atwill said he hoped the arrangement outlined in the rejected order was a compromise that those calling for the removal and those on the opposite side can both accept. Thompson raised concerns about the county's ability to preserve the murals while they're in storage. She also said the county might have trouble finding a location for them.
Southern District Commissioner Justin Aldred said he had concerns about spending tax money on preserving the art and finding a location for it.
Thompson then suggested an alternative order that will put the murals in a secure location instead of in storage. Atwill abstained because he felt the new order should have included a statement related to the commission's intent in moving the mural and information about public comments given related to the issue.
The commission took public comment on the murals last week, shortly after lawyers called for the murals to be moved due to the violence they depict.
The murals, hanging on a courthouse staircase, depict images such as people whipping a person tied to a tree and a group of people cutting someone down from a hanging. The murals also depict instances of slave labor, including two people carrying a plank of wood for the construction of the county courthouse.
Lawyers said they believe the murals send the wrong message to people either visiting the courthouse or defending themselves in a criminal case.
Some, however, oppose the removal of the murals. Bill Powell, who is also a lawyer, wrote to the commission saying it should not let people politicize the artwork.
"I think it's a misinterpretation of the murals; I think that's a sort of off-the-cuff reaction to one or two of the hundreds of images they contain and having them removed because of that kind of reaction without careful study of the murals would be a mistake," Powell said.
