UI students splatter shirts to celebrate Pollock

University of Iowa art students joyfully wielded paintbrushes Thursday, leaving drips and splatters and swirls in their wake.

White t-shirts became messy canvases in smears of red, yellow, green and blue.

“This ends things on a light note rather than what could have been,” Jenny Weber, 23, a UI senior in art, said. “Who knew a splatter could be so beautiful.”

What originally was planned by students as a protest of the idea of putting the UI-owned Jackson Pollock “Mural” on the auction block became a celebration when the legislative bill that would have forced the sale was abandoned this week.

But the UI art students wanted to go ahead with their event to show that they think the Pollock - and all of the UI Museum of Art collection - is priceless, organizers said. The painting was valued several years ago at $140 million, and some legislators argue it should be sold to pay for student scholarships.

“I think the legislators that pushed this will continue to push it in the future,” Lars Headington, 31, a senior in journalism and art said. “This is our way of saying ‘hopefully you remember in the future that people do care about this painting.'”

A clear plastic tarp covered the lobby floor at Studio Arts. Most of the students who volunteered to be splattered wore goggles, but the nontoxic acrylic paint still found its way to their faces, arms and hair.

The students had planned to hold the event on the UI Pentacrest to draw more passersby, but there were concerns about getting paint on the sidewalks and grounds there, Headington said.

The 35 or so colorful t-shirts that result from the splattering will be sent to Rep. Scott Raecker, R-Urbandale, the legislator who proposed the sale of “Mural.” UI leaders were opposed to the sale, and Raecker this week said it was a collective decision to pull his house study bill.

Headington hopes the box of painted shirts will leave an impression.

“It's not the only great painting in the UI collection, but it's representative of the world-class museum,” he said.