Public Space, Private Statue, Mixed Message

Over at the New (sub)Urbanism blog, Steven Crane, tells the tale of a modest, private, copyrighted statue in Chicago's new Millennium Park:

The [Chicago] Reader recounts the experience of photojournalist Warren Wimmer's attempts to photograph Anish Kapoor's sculpture, Cloud Gate (more commonly known as "the Bean"). When Wimmer set up his tripod and camera to shoot the sculpture, security guards stopped him, demanding that they show him a permit. Wimmer protested, replying that it's absurd that one needs to pay for a permit to photograph public art in a city-owned park.

Ben Joravsky, the author of the Reader article, attempted to contact park officials for an explanation and received a response from Karen Ryan, press director for the park's project director:

"The copyrights for the enhancements in Millennium Park are owned by the artist who created them. As such, anyone reproducing the works, especially for commercial purposes, needs the permission of that artist."

Crane notes that the park was built with more than $270 million in public funds. Not sure of all the issues here, but this may be one reason, besides the weather and the Cubs, why Chicago has slipped to number three among American cities.

Whole bit here.

Update: Please note that Steven Crane is not associated with the Web site above, but is being quoted.