Lawmakers credit constituents with halting proposed 'Mural' sale

CORALVILLE - Eastern Iowa Democrats say GOP proposal to sell a valuable painting at the University of Iowa wouldn't have been stopped without input from Iowa citizens.

At a legislative forum in Coralville this weekend, Johnson County's statehouse delegation commended the dozens of people who spoke out against a Republican-sponsored bill which would have forced the university to sell Jackson Pollock's ‘Mural.'

“The best news of the week was on Monday when the Republicans made the decision that selling the Jackson Pollock was a bad idea,” said Rep. Mary Mascher, D-Iowa City, garnering a round of applause from than 100 people at the Coralville Public Library on Saturday morning. “The cultural arts community was phenomenal on this.”

Policymakers have suggested selling the painting - valued at around $140 million - twice in the last few years. This time around, lawmakers said they would have invested the proceeds and used the interest to fund scholarships for art students from Iowa.

Higher education leaders, students and community members fiercely criticized the move. Republican lawmakers abandoned the proposal this week.

Even Republican Gov. Terry Branstad said selling the piece would have unintended consequences.

“Obviously he he got a lot of emails and input from our area,” Sen. Bob Dvorsky, D-Coralville, said.