A Thomas Hart Benton work hidden away in storage for years could be put on public display after a newspaper questioned the whereabouts of the painting.

Students of the class of 1957 from Shawnee Mission High School in suburban Kansas City bought the Benton for $750. The painting hung in what is now Shawnee Mission North High School until school officials were stunned when it was appraised in 2008 at $700,000.

For seven years, Benton's "Utah Highlands" has been kept in storage for safekeeping. Now, school alumni, and a report in the Kansas City Star, have spurred district officials to consider taking the painting out of storage and they "negotiating with another entity."