Capitol Commission approves 100‑year portrait placement plan

The Michigan State Capitol Commission voted unanimously April 20 to adopt a "hundred year portrait plan" that establishes where future gubernatorial portraits and busts will be placed in the Capitol building.

Executive Director Rob presented an insert showing proposed portrait locations and a recommended long‑term approach to hanging portraits so historic plaster and decorative surfaces are not covered arbitrarily. "This plan illustrates how the portraits could be displayed as more governors are elected than leave office," Rob said, and asked the commission to vote to memorialize the plan.

The plan proposes specific wall locations for monumental and three‑quarter‑sized portraits and recommends creating a painting commission to manage future placement and maintenance. Commissioner Land asked whether the state museum had been consulted and whether long‑term storage and turnover had been considered; Rob said the museum's storage is already full and that the commission is focused on managing the issue internally, but that the plan could be shared with other entities after adoption. "We just wanna make sure that there's a baseline for the future stewards of the building to fall back onto," Rob said.

After brief discussion the commission moved to vote. The Secretary recorded six "yes" votes: Chair Candler, Vice Chair Bauer, Commissioner Hobbs, Commissioner Land, Commissioner Oberlin and Commissioner Starr. The motion was approved 6–0.

The commission did not set additional implementation details during the meeting; Rob said he will present final cost estimates and coordinate with the clerk of the house and secretary of the senate on logistics for installing portraits in the future.