DENVER — Within the West Foyer of the State Capitol, Gov. John Hickenlooper accepts a gift from the USS Colorado committee: a model of the recently commissioned nuclear submarine.
"We could not be more proud of your team, your crew, all the support that made this possible," Hickenlooper said.
The submarine model was announced as a permanent display at the Capitol adding to a collection of hundreds of pieces already there? This caused us to wonder how does art get placed on Capitol grounds?
"It's important to really recognize what's the heritage and culture of the Capitol," said Damion Pechuta, a legislative staffer.
Pechuta is the staff member for the Capitol Building Advisory Committee. The committee put in place a 30-page procedure for artwork to be evaluated and possibly approved for placement. Pechuta said the process is very stringent with committee members looking for certain qualities from proposed artists.
"The art displayed in the Capitol usually represents the heritage, the history, and the natural beauty of the state," Pechuta said. "It's a very exclusive process and the reason why is we don't want a huge abundance of artwork and collections and things because we are only so big."
The Advisory Committee only approves one piece of artwork per year for permanent display. Most other pieces of art within the Capitol are temporary displays on loan from the artists.
"We have everything from small photographs to large paintings to murals to memorials on the Capitol grounds," Pechuta said.
The submarine model is actually an exception since it was an accepted gift by the Governor's office, according to Pechuta. It did not go through the committee yet.
"Because this piece was given to the Governor and gifted to the state, it will eventually have to go through that process, Pechuta said. "But for now it's going to be seen as a loan."
