IOWA CITY—The Iowa Board of Regents has decided to explore the possibility of selling Jackson Pollock’s Mural, a prized work in the collection of the University of Iowa Museum of Art, to help pay for damages from record floods in June, the Des Moines Register reports.

According to the board, a sale of the 8-by-20-foot painting, estimated to be worth about $100 million, could help offset more than $230 million in damages that occurred when the Iowa River jumped its banks and submerged large portions of the campus in mid-June.

The work arrived at the U of I nearly 60 years ago. Peggy Guggenheim offered it to the school in 1948 for the shipping cost of $40, which, by the time the university accepted the gift in 1951, had risen to $100. As Pollock’s fame grew, the painting rose in stature, and it was one of the first of thousands of works in the school’s collection to be saved during the flood.

The proposed sale has prompted fierce debate. Storm Lake Times columnist Art Cullen wrote in a column last weekend: "Sell that painting and we can rebuild the entire, flood-devastated fine-arts campus in Iowa City without asking the public for a dime."

Those arguing against the sale included U of I President Sally Mason. "I do not want to sell the painting," she said. "I would encourage the regents to become fully informed as to the painting's role at the University of Iowa."

The museum’s interim director, Pam White, another critic of the idea, worried that the museum could lose its accreditation from the American Association of Museums if it deaccessioned the Pollock to pay for flood relief. "There are dire ramifications for museums who get into this business (of selling works to pay bills)," she said.

Regent Michael Gartner, a proponent of the board's action, cautioned, "I'm not proposing the painting be sold, but I'm proposing we look to see that if the painting were sold (how much it would bring)."

He said the board would look into the value of the painting if sold to a museum that would agree to periodic viewings at the U of I. He also wanted to know how much the U of I spends to insure the painting and on security around the work.