Colorado Democrats unveiled the state’s portrait of President Joe Biden in a ceremony Friday at the state Capitol. 

Biden’s portrait will be displayed, along with his 45 predecessors in the state Capitol’s third floor Presidential Portrait Gallery.

This year’s presidential portrait was commissioned by the Capitol Building Advisory Committee and paid for with taxpayer funds delegated to the legislature. That’s a change from the past, when the portraits were paid for largely by private donations.

That change in funding also resolves the problem that surfaced with the portrait of then-President Donald Trump. 

About 18 months into Trump’s term, a prankster — later revealed to be Alan Franklin of ProgressNow Colorado — set up a portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the presidential gallery. At that time, presidential portraits were paid for with private donations routed through Colorado Citizens for Culture.

But by mid-2018, the organization’s leader said he hadn’t gotten even one donation for Trump’s portrait. The attention paid to the Putin prank, which drew international media mentions, revealed the lack of funding and prompted then-Senate President Kevin Grantham to go to work to raise the money for the portrait, which was unveiled a year later.

Colorado Citizens for Culture was dissolved in 2021, leaving it up to lawmakers to figure out how to come up with the next portrait.

On Friday, artist Kirsten Savage was on hand with Democratic leaders for the unveiling. She explained she had three concepts in mind as she does a portrait: inspiration, education and trying to elevate a space. As she was painting Biden’s portrait, she said it checked all three boxes. 

The education aspect is subtle, she said. All the portraits are painted in a classical style, and they’re all framed in the same manner and all the same size, none more grandiose than another.

“We’re not trying to highlight one president or another. We’re shining a light on our democratic process, now more important than ever,” she said.

Senate President Steve Fenberg, who chairs the building group, said there’s value in having the occasion and what tradition and ceremonial moments can mean for democracy.

“Little things add up to the reverence” the Capitol holds for people, he said, adding that the building group is tasked with preserving the Capitol’s historic character. 

“You made 81 look pretty good!” Fenberg told Savage.

He joked that Savage had shown him a rough draft, Biden with his shirt off, aviator sunglasses and an ice cream cone in his hand. Not quite presidential, Fenberg quipped.

While the state Capitol is some 130-years old, the portrait gallery is far more recent, dating back to only about 40 years, according to Fenberg.

Colorado is in a better place today, three years after Biden took office, said House Speaker Julie McCluskie, citing the work of the Biden administration and Colorado’s federal delegation on housing, jobs, reducing the cost of healthcare as well as the projects being funded by the bipartisan infrastructure law.

Gov. Jared Polis also lauded the president’s work, including Biden’s support for those who lost homes in the Marshall fire and the president’s visit with those families.

“His lifelong commitment to public service continues to inspire us,” the governor said.