The Boone County Commission voted to remove racial artwork from the local courthouse after a three-hour public hearing.
Commissioners, including Daniel K. Atwill, Justin Aldred, and Janet Thomspon, voted 2-0 in favor of removing the artwork with Atwill abstaining.
“It was interesting how all three commissioners wanted to remove the artwork but the presiding commissioner, who's an attorney and has a background in civil litigation, wanted a detailed order that explained how the commission came to the decision,” said attorney Rusty Antel who attended the hearing.
“The other two commissioners wanted just a very plain order with no details or explanation. Atwill said he wanted the painting removed but abstained because he would not agree to a short order.”
As previously reported, the paintings depict what appear to be unclothed black men in chains, a white man being whipped, a Native American being threatened with a gun by a white man, and a Native American who has been lynched.
“Physically, it was removed on Columbus Day when the courthouse was closed,” Antel told the St. Louis Record. “I think they wanted it done in a non-public way. My understanding is it's in storage at the Boone County Historical Society, which has a room or a facility that's appropriate to safely store artwork. So, it's preserved. It's not going to be burnt or something but it is gone.”
The artwork was painted by Sidney Larson in 1994 and has been on display inside the courthouse since 1995 until Antel and fellow attorney Gary Oxenhandler spearheaded the effort to have it removed.
“There were people who were friends with the artist before he passed away who said at the hearing that he wasn’t a racist and didn’t intend the painting to be that way but apparently, at that time, nobody was bothered by the painting," Antel said. "Obviously, times have changed.”
About 50 people showed up at the hearing, according to Antel, and 30 people commented.
“There were more in favor of removing the paintings but not an insignificant number who were against it,” he said.
Antel added that the commissioners were particularly moved by an African American woman who told the group that her husband had recently been called a slave by passersby at Sam's Club after he volunteered to help a white woman who was overburdened with her shopping bags.
"That's wildly inappropriate," he said. "Their 4-year-old daughter heard this and asked 'Mommy, what's a slave?' This affects black people differently. Honestly, twenty-five years ago, it might have seemed funny to a white person but not today and certainly never to a black person."