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116-671: Cloud Gate is a public sculpture by Indian -born British artist Anish Kapoor , that is the centerpiece of Grainger Plaza at Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago . Constructed between 2004 and 2006, the sculpture is nicknamed " The Bean " because of its shape, a name Kapoor later grew fond of. Made up of 168 stainless steel plates welded together, its reflective and highly polished exterior has no visible seams. It measures 33 by 66 by 42 feet (10 by 20 by 13 m), and weighs 110 short tons (100 t; 98 long tons). The sculpture and its plaza are located above Park Grill , between

232-464: A transubstantiation of material, reminiscent of that which the artist experienced during a 1979 trip to India. Kapoor's 1000 Names evolved immediately after this trip; twenty-five years later he created Cloud Gate , an object that emerged from material forms to become immaterial. Kapoor often relies on tenets of Hinduism in his art and says that "The experience of opposites allows for the expression of wholeness." Primal dualities that are one, such as

348-466: A combination of trees that will provide a shade canopy for these plants when they fill in. The light plate, which includes no trees, represents the city's future with sun-loving perennials that thrive in the heat and the sun. Lying between Lake Michigan to the east and the Loop to the west, Grant Park has been Chicago's front yard since the mid 19th century. Its northwest corner, north of Monroe Street and

464-460: A commission motive and as a critical focus by artists. The individual, Romantic retreat element implied in the conceptual structure of land art , and its will to reconnect the urban environment with nature, is turned into a political claim in projects such as Wheatfield – A Confrontation (1982) by American artist Agnes Denes , as well as in Joseph Beuys ’ 7000 Oaks (1982). Both projects focus on

580-478: A database of public art works, essays and case studies, with a focus on the UK. The Institute for Public Art, based in the UK, maintains information about public art on six continents. The WikiProject Public art project began in 2009 and strove to document public art around the globe. While this project received initial attention from the academic community, it mainly relied on temporary student contributions. Its status

696-973: A design awaiting maturity is in enjoying the maturation. The garden is the result of an invited international competition that occurred from August to October 2000. Following the contest the garden was commissioned in October 2000 and completed in June 2004. Among the entrants in the competition were Louis Benech , Dan Kiley , George Hargreaves , Jeffrey Mendoza and Michael Van Valkenburgh . The garden has won numerous awards: Best Public Space Award by Travel + Leisure , 2005; Intensive Industrial Award by Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, 2005; Award of Honor by WASLA Professional Awards, 2005; Institute Honor Awards for Regional & Urban Design, American Institute of Architects , 2006 (Millennium Park); and Award of Excellence, American Society of Landscape Architects Professional Awards, 2008. Green Roofs for Healthy Cities considers

812-467: A feasible method was found, but the sculpture's construction fell behind schedule. It was unveiled in an incomplete form during the Millennium Park grand opening celebration in 2004, before being concealed again while it was completed. Cloud Gate was formally dedicated on May 15, 2006, and has since gained considerable popularity, both domestically and internationally. Lying between Lake Michigan to

928-659: A good example although less art is involved. The doual'art project in Douala ( Cameroon , 1991) is based on a commissioning system that brings together the community, the artist and the commissioning institution for the realization of the project. Memorials for individuals, groups of people or events are sometimes represented through public art. Examples are Maya Lin 's Vietnam War Memorial in Washington DC, Tim Tate 's AIDS Monument in New Orleans , and Kenzō Tange 's Cenotaph for

1044-548: A kiss under it. It also appears in the video to " Homecoming ", a song by Chicago native Kanye West , featuring Chris Martin of the band Coldplay . The sculpture is also featured in the 2008 mumblecore film Nights and Weekends . It was also featured in the Bollywood film Dhoom 3 and the 2014 movie Transformers: Age of Extinction , the fourth installment in the Transformers series . A modified reproduction of Cloud Gate

1160-439: A large sombrero when the bottom was complete. The shell of Cloud Gate was fully erected for the grand opening of Millennium Park on July 15, 2004, although it was unpolished and thus unfinished, because its assembly had fallen behind schedule. The piece was temporarily uncovered on July 8 for the opening, although Kapoor was unhappy with this as it allowed the public to see the sculpture in an unfinished state. The original plan

1276-421: A metal armature , to prefigure the mature hedge. The shoulder hedge is an evolving hedge screen of deciduous Fagus (beech) and Carpinus (hornbeam) and evergreen Thuja (arborvitae, also known as redcedars) that will eventually (over the course of approximately ten years) branch horizontally to fill the permanent armature frame and create a solid hedge. The garden was one of the gardens depicted in

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1392-456: A new approach in the way the percent for art was used, or the public art funds of Geneva with the Neon Parallax project involving a very large urban environnement in 2005. For the second one can refer to Les Nouveaux Commanditaires launched by Fondation de France with François Hers in 1990 with the idea a project can respond to a community's wish. The New York High Line from 2009 is

1508-493: A public park for a private event has also been controversial. In 2005 and 2006, almost all of Millennium Park was closed for a day for corporate events. On both occasions, as one of the park's primary attractions, Cloud Gate was the focus of controversy. On September 8, 2005, Toyota Motor Sales USA paid $ 800,000 to rent most venues in the park including Cloud Gate and the surrounding AT&T Plaza from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. On August 7, 2006, Allstate paid $ 700,000 to rent

1624-445: A reminder of the time when Chicago placed boards over the marshland for pedestrians. The boardwalk has a 24-inch (61 cm) wide step on one side. The step, which provides seating, leads down to a 5-foot (1.5 m) wide canal , which runs between this step and a limestone wall. The limestone supports the plant beds of the dark plate. The water is invigorated with jets , and visitors are allowed to sit and dangle their feet in

1740-443: A renowned lighting and set designer, determined the thematic concepts such as the placement of paths and the shapes of perennial beds. Oudolf , a Dutch perennial plantsman, designed the flower beds which contain 26,000 perennial plants in 250 varieties native to the prairie . The garden is designed with four primary components: the shoulder hedge, the light plate, the dark plate and the seam boardwalk. The shoulder hedge frames

1856-507: A result of the video, compensate him for statutory damages equivalent to $ 150,000 per infringement, and attorney fees. The suit was settled in December 2018 with the removal of the image from the NRA video. Public art Independent art created or staged in or near the public realm (for example, graffiti , street art ) lacks official or tangible public sanction has not been recognized as part of

1972-513: A scattering of trees sprouting out of the flower beds. These plants thrive with shade from trees. The lush plants of this plate were selected by Oudolf as a tribute to Chicago's marshy beginnings. It is described as a thick wetland whose designers have described as "wild, naughty and hidden." The light plate is dominated by prairie plants: grasses, coneflowers, prairie-smoke and no trees. These plants thrive in direct sunlight. This plate unites lighter native plants with imported specimens. It

2088-521: A sculpture similar to Cloud Gate was reported in Karamay , China at the site of an oil discovery, which according to Eduardo Peñalver, the Dean of Cornell Law School, "very probably" is a copyright infringement against Cloud Gate . Though designed to resemble an oil bubble, Kapoor hoped that legal action would be taken against what he termed a Chinese knockoff. Mayor Rahm Emanuel was less concerned and said that it

2204-540: A series of 2009 Sunday Garden Tours in which 24 people volunteered 391 hours to guide 2,027 guests from 45 states and 26 countries through the garden. During 2009, eight volunteers spent 383 hours gardening. The garden has two staff members and four volunteers on hand to answer questions on Wednesdays and Thursdays. The garden is open from Memorial Day through Labor Day from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays and from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekends. Chicago Tribune Pulitzer Prize -winning architecture critic Blair Kamin , rated

2320-643: A small degree of rigidity. About a third of the plates, along with the entire interior structure, were fabricated in Oakland. The plates were polished to 98 percent of their final state and covered with protective white film before being sent to Chicago via trucks. Once in Chicago, the plates were welded together on-site, creating 2,442 linear feet (744 m) of welded seams. Welders used keyhole welding machines rather than traditional welding guns. The plates were fabricated so precisely that no on-site cutting or filing

2436-476: A structure for funding public art still utilized today. This program allotted one half of one percent of total construction costs of all government buildings to the purchase of contemporary American art for them. A-i-A helped solidify the policy that public art in the United States should be truly owned by the public. It also promoted site-specific public art. The approach to public art radically changed during

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2552-473: A year, the sculpture was reopened to the public on June 23, 2024. Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley declared the day of the sculpture's dedication, May 15, 2006, to be "Cloud Gate Day". Kapoor attended the celebration, while local jazz trumpeter and bandleader Orbert Davis and the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic played "Fanfare for Cloud Gate", which Davis composed. The public took an instant liking to

2668-608: Is also included in Watch Dogs , a video game released in 2014 that takes place in Chicago . Unlike the real sculpture, the in-game replica is a curved, white torus . Cloud Gate plays a prominent role in Battle Ground , the 17th title in the Dresden Files urban fantasy novel series by Jim Butcher . In the Chicago of the novels, the sculpture was commissioned by Queen Mab, ruler of

2784-491: Is an example of an interactive, social activist public art project. Rather than metaphorically reflecting social issues, new genre public art strove to explicitly empower marginalized groups while maintaining aesthetic appeal. An example was curator Mary Jane Jacob 's 1993 public art show " Culture in Action " that investigated social systems though engagement with audiences that typically did not visit traditional art museums. In

2900-596: Is composed of multiplied surfaces. According to project manager Lou Cerny of MTH Industries, "When the light is right, you can't see where the sculpture ends and the sky begins." The sculpture challenges perception by distorting and deforming the surrounding architecture. The skyscrapers along East Randolph Street to the northeast (Two Prudential Plaza, and Aon Center), north (One Prudential Plaza) and northwest (The Heritage, Crain Communications Building ) are reflected on Cloud Gate' s surface when viewed from either

3016-497: Is currently unknown. Lurie Garden Lurie Garden is a 2.5-acre (10,000 m ) garden located at the southern end of Millennium Park in the Loop area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois , United States. Designed by GGN ( Gustafson Guthrie Nichol ), Piet Oudolf , and Robert Israel , it opened on July 16, 2004. The garden is a combination of perennials , bulbs , native prairie grasses, shrubs and trees. It

3132-522: Is described as a fine-textured upland whose designers have described as "clean, noble and prominent". At the time of the 2004 opening of the Garden, the perennials were expected to need a year or two to mature and the hedges were expected to need another five to ten years to fill out. Another Tribune critic, Beth Botts, noted that the historical symbolism of the plantings is a future pleasure to be anticipated. However, she noted that it would be many years before

3248-524: Is designed to encourage direct hands-on interaction. Examples include public art that contain interactive musical, light, video, or water components. For example, the architectural centerpiece in front of the Ontario Science Centre is a fountain and musical instrument ( hydraulophone ) by Steve Mann where people can produce sounds by blocking water jets to force water through sound-producing mechanisms. An early and unusual interactive public artwork

3364-1418: Is exposed, the granite surfaces have a flamed finish. The boardwalk and wood benches in the Garden are fabricated from FSC-certified Ipe . The garden primarily uses patinized Naval Brass (all metal plates in the Seam), patinized architectural bronze (all handrails), and powdercoated steel (the armature). The seasonal highlights are as follows: Spring highlights include - Star of Persia , Arkansas Blue Star , Wild White Indigo , Quamash , Shooting Star , Prairie Smoke , Virginia Bluebells , Herbaceous Peony , Phlomis , Meadow Sage , Burnet , and Tulip ; Summer highlights include - Giant Hyssop , Ornamental Onion , Butterfly Weed , Purple Lance Astilbe , Calamint , Rusty Foxglove , Pale Coneflower , Daylily , White Blazing Star , Bee Balm , Oregano , and Culver's Root ; Fall/Winter highlights include - Japanese Anemone , White Wood Aster , Northern Sea Oats , Tennessee Coneflower , Purple Love Grass , Rattlesnake Master , Bottle Gentian , Common Eulalia Grass , Red Switch Grass , Little Bluestem , Prairie Dropseed , and Toad Lily . The garden features dozens of types of perennials and bulbs. The garden features both ornamental and prairie grasses. It includes evergreen and deciduous shrubs. Its trees serve as its foundation. The wide variety of plant life has lured dozens of cottontail rabbits to

3480-490: Is in the form of a gate, the participant, the viewer, will be able to enter into this very deep chamber that does, in a way, the same thing to one's reflection as the exterior of the piece is doing to the reflection of the city around. — Anish Kapoor When the park first opened in 2004, Metra police stopped a Columbia College Chicago journalism student who was working on a photography project in Millennium Park and confiscated his film because of fears of terrorism. In 2005,

3596-830: Is itself above railroad tracks. In 1836, a year before Chicago was incorporated, the Board of Canal Commissioners held public auctions for the city's first lots . Foresighted citizens, who wanted the lakefront kept as public open space, convinced the commissioners to designate the land east of Michigan Avenue between Randolph Street and Park Row (11th Street) "Public Ground—A Common to Remain Forever Open, Clear and Free of Any Buildings, or Other Obstruction, whatever." Grant Park has been "forever open, clear and free" since, protected by legislation that has been affirmed by four previous Illinois Supreme Court rulings. In 1839, United States Secretary of War Joel Roberts Poinsett declared

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3712-452: Is often created and provided within formal "art in public places" programs that can include community arts education and art performance. Such programs may be financed by government entities through Percent for Art initiatives. Some public art is planned and designed for stability and permanence. Its placement in, or exposure to, the physical public realm requires both safe and durable materials. Public artworks are designed to withstand

3828-447: Is popular with tourists as a photo-taking opportunity for its unique reflective properties. The sculpture was the result of a design competition. After Kapoor's design was chosen, numerous technological concerns regarding the design's construction and assembly arose, in addition to concerns regarding the sculpture's upkeep and maintenance. Various experts were consulted, some of whom believed the design could not be implemented. Eventually,

3944-521: Is required for any commercial reproductions of the photographs. The city first set a policy of collecting permit fees for photographs. These permits were initially set at $ 350 per day for professional still photographers, $ 1,200 per day for professional videographers and $ 50 per hour for wedding photographers. The policy has been changed so permits are only required for large-scale film, video and photography requiring ten-person crews and equipment. In addition to restricting photography of public art, closing

4060-580: Is the case for High Line Art, 2009, a commission program for the High Line , derived from the conversion of a portion of railroad in New York City ; and of Gleisdreieck , 2012, an urban park derived from the partial conversion of a railway station in Berlin which hosts, since 2012, an open-air contemporary art exhibition. The 1980s also witnessed the institutionalization of sculpture parks as curated programs. While

4176-549: Is the featured nature component of the world's largest green roof . The garden cost $ 13.2 million and has a $ 10 million endowment for maintenance and upkeep. It was named after Ann Lurie , who donated the $ 10 million endowment. For visitors, the garden features guided walks, lectures, interactive demonstrations, family festivals and picnics. The Garden is composed of two "plates" protected on two sides by large hedges . The dark plate depicts Chicago's history by presenting shade-loving plant material. The dark plate has

4292-476: The Art Institute , east of Michigan Avenue , south of Randolph Street, and west of Columbus Drive, had been Illinois Central rail yards and parking lots until 1997, when it was made available for development by the city as Millennium Park . Today, Millennium Park trails only Navy Pier as a Chicago tourist attraction. Today, there is truly a rooftop garden on top of the Millennium Park parking garage, which

4408-550: The Chase Promenade and McCormick Tribune Plaza & Ice Rink . Kapoor's design was inspired by liquid mercury and the sculpture's surface reflects and distorts the city's skyline and clouds moving overhead. Visitors are able to walk around and under Cloud Gate ' s 12-foot (3.7 m) high arch. On the underside is the "omphalos" (Greek for "navel"), a concave chamber that warps and multiplies reflections. The sculpture builds upon many of Kapoor's artistic themes , and it

4524-538: The Chinati Foundation (1986) in Texas, which advocates for the permanent nature of large-scale installations whose fragility may be destroyed when re-locating the work. Public art faces a design challenge by its very nature: how best to activate the images in its surroundings. The concept of “ sustainability ” arises in response to the perceived environmental deficiencies of a city. Sustainable development , promoted by

4640-611: The Smithsonian American Art Museum 's Archives of American Art . It currently holds over six thousand works in its database. There are dozens of non-government organizations and educational institutions that maintain online public art databases of public artworks covering numerous areas, including the National Endowment for the Arts , WESTAF , Public Art Fund , Creative Time , and others. Public Art Online, maintains

4756-470: The United Nations since the 1980s, includes economical, social, and ecological aspects. A sustainable public art work would include plans for urban regeneration and disassembly. Sustainability has been widely adopted in many environmental planning and engineering projects. Sustainable art is a challenge to respond the needs of an opening space in public. In another public artwork titled "Mission leopard"

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4872-408: The lingam and yoni , are important to Indian culture, and Cloud Gate represents both the male and female in one entity by symbolizing both the vagina and testicles . Thus, it represents the tension between the masculine and the feminine. The sculpture has been used as a backdrop in commercial films, notably in the 2006 Hollywood film The Break-Up , which had to reshoot several scenes because

4988-494: The "City of Big Shoulders" with a 15-foot (4.6 m) "shoulder" hedge that protects the perennial garden and encloses the park on two sides. It keeps the garden from being trampled by crowds exiting events at the neighboring Jay Pritzker Pavilion . The "shoulder" hedge, which serves as the northern edge of the garden, also fills the space next to the void of the great lawn of the Jay Pritzker Pavilion. These hedges use

5104-555: The 1970s by urban cultural policies, for example the New York-based Public Art Fund and urban or regional Percent for Art programs in the United States and Europe. Moreover, public art discourse shifted from a national to a local level, consistent with the site-specific trend and criticism of institutional exhibition spaces emerging in contemporary art practices. Between the 1970s and the 1980s, gentrification and ecological issues surfaced in public art practice both as

5220-401: The 1970s, following the civil rights movement's claims on public space, the alliance between urban regeneration programs and artistic efforts at the end of the 1960s, and revised ideas of sculpture. Public art acquired a status beyond mere decoration and visualization of official national histories in public space. Public art became much more about the public. This perspective was reinforced in

5336-495: The 1990s, some artists called for artistic social intervention in public space. These efforts employed the term "new genre public art" in addition to the terms "contextual art", " relational art ", " participatory art ", "dialog art", " community-based art ", and "activist art". "New genre public art" is defined by Suzanne Lacy as "socially engaged, interactive art for diverse audiences with connections to identity politics and social activism". Mel Chin 's Fundred Dollar Bill Project

5452-597: The 2006 In Search of Paradise: Great Gardens of the World exhibition that was shown from May 12 – October 22, 2006 in the Boeing Galleries and that was later shown in the Chicago Botanic Garden . The Chicago Botanic Garden developed the exhibition that included 65 photomurals of gardens from 21 countries using photographs that were less than five years old. Seattle-based landscape architecture firm GGN and Israel,

5568-523: The 21st Century public art has often been a significant component of public realm projects in UK cities and towns, often via engagement with local residents where artists will work with the community in developing an idea or sourcing content to be featured in the artwork. Examples would include Adrian Riley 's 'Come Follow Me' in Minster in Lincolnshire where a 35m long text artwork in the public square outside

5684-663: The A-bomb Victims in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Japan. Public art is sometimes controversial. The following public art controversies have been notable: Online databases of local and regional public art emerged in the 1990s and 2000s in tandem with the development of web-based data. Online public art databases can be general or selective (limited to sculptures or murals), and they can be governmental, quasi-governmental, or independent. Some online databases, such as

5800-588: The AT&;T Plaza" (as Grainger Plaza was then called). It is Kapoor's first public outdoor work in the United States, and is the work by which he is best known in the country according to the Financial Times . The British engineering firm Atelier One provided the sculpture's structural design, and Performance Structures, Inc. (PSI) was chosen to fabricate it because of their ability to produce nearly invisible welds . The project began with PSI attempting to recreate

5916-494: The Gangsta Gardener (or Guerrilla Gardener) of South Central L.A. is an example of an artist whose works constitute temporary public art works in the form of public food gardens that addresses sustainability, food security and food justice . Andrea Zittel has produced works, such as Indianapolis Island that reference sustainability and permaculture with which participants can actively engage. Some public art

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6032-469: The Garden and the surrounding park. The garden uses no synthetic pesticides . 60,000 and 42,000 bulbs were handplanted in 2006 and 2008, respectively. In 2009, 20,000 additional bulbs were planted, bringing the total to 120,000 and extending the flowering season earlier. The garden includes 35,000 perennials in 240 varieties and 5,200 "woody" plants in 14 varieties. The dark plate's perennials include ferns, angelicas and other broad-leaved species, with

6148-551: The Montgomery Ward height restrictions on buildings and structures in Grant Park and there are no tall buildings in the park blocking the sun for large parts of the day. The Lurie garden constantly depicts the dynamics of nature, but it is most colorful from June through the autumn. It is not a botanical garden with a scientific purpose and is instead a public garden. Thus, it does not use a plant labeling system. The plant life of

6264-715: The South Chase Promenade and Southwest Exelon Pavilion as well as the future site of the Nichols Bridgeway , west of the Southeast Exelon Pavilion, southwest of the BP Pedestrian Bridge . The garden was an essential element of the park, as the motto of Chicago is Urbs in Horto , which is a Latin phrase meaning City in a Garden. The Garden also pays tribute to Carl Sandburg 's moniker of Chicago as

6380-529: The Winter Court of Faerie, and proves to be hiding a large stockpile of armaments. Its placement by the Winter Court was in anticipation of a massive supernatural attack on the city of Chicago. A June 2017 video by the National Rifle Association (NRA) entitled The Clenched Fist of Truth used an image of Cloud Gate . Anish Kapoor sued the NRA to stop running the video, pay any profits gained as

6496-409: The aesthetics of the surface. The most pressing issue was the need to create a single seamless exterior for the external shell, a feat architect Norman Foster once believed to be nearly impossible. While the sculpture was being constructed, public and media outlets nicknamed it "The Bean" because of its shape, a name that Kapoor described as "completely stupid". Months later, Kapoor officially named

6612-423: The art when he walks underneath it into its "navel". The omphalos is a "warped dimension of fluid space". In this dimension, solid is transformed into fluid in a disorienting multiplicative manner that intensifies the experience. It is emblematic of Kapoor's work to deconstruct empirical space and venture into manifold possibilities of abstract space . The experience is described as a displaced or virtual depth that

6728-481: The boundary between the limit and the limitless. Kapoor drew on past experience to design Cloud Gate , in particular the designing of Sky Mirror (2001), a 20-foot (6.1 m) 10-short-ton (9 t; 9-long-ton) concave stainless steel mirror that also used a theme of distorted perception on a grand scale. Kapoor's objects often aim to evoke immateriality and the spiritual, an outcome he achieves either by carving dark voids into stone pieces, or more recently, through

6844-475: The constructed piece should be expected to survive for 1,000 years. The lower 6 feet (1.8 m) of Cloud Gate is wiped down twice a day by hand, while the entire sculpture is cleaned twice a year with 40 U.S. gallons (33 imp gal; 150 L) of liquid detergent. The daily cleanings use a Windex -like solution, while the semi-annual cleanings use Tide . A notable February 2009 incident saw two names etched in letters about 1 inch (25 mm) tall on

6960-430: The construction of the Nichols Bridgeway clutters the picturesque view of Lurie Gardens and in so doing diminishes its prairie aspect. The garden is a sustainable design built on lightweight geofoam under the soil. All curbing , stone stairways , stair landings, wall coping , and wall cladding in the interior of the Garden use midwestern limestone. The garden uses granite for paving and wall veneer . Where it

7076-426: The curator and art/architecture historian, Mary Jane Jacob , public art brings art closer to life. Public art is publicly accessible, both physically and/or visually. When public art is installed on privately owned property, general public access rights still exist. Public art is characterized by site specificity , where the artwork is "created in response to the place and community in which it resides" and by

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7192-419: The decision was made to transport the individual panels by truck and to assemble the structure on-site, a task undertaken by MTH Industries. The sculpture's weight raised concerns. Estimating the thickness of the steel needed to create the sculpture's desired aesthetics before fabrication was difficult. Cloud Gate was originally estimated to weigh 60 short tons (54 t; 54 long tons) when completed. However,

7308-529: The design in miniature. A high-density polyurethane foam model was selected by Kapoor, which was then used to design the final structure, including the interior structural components. Initially, PSI planned to build and assemble the sculpture in Oakland, California , and ship it to Chicago through the Panama Canal and St. Lawrence Seaway . However, this plan was discarded after park officials deemed it too risky, so

7424-581: The development of public art during the Great Depression but was wrought with propaganda goals. New Deal art programs were intended to develop national pride in American culture while avoiding addressing the faltering economy. Although problematic, New Deal art programs such as FAP altered the relationship between the artist and society by making art accessible to all people. The New Deal program Art-in-Architecture (A-i-A) developed percent for art programs,

7540-422: The east and the Loop to the west, Grant Park has served as Chicago's “front yard” since the mid-19th century. Its northwest corner, north of Monroe Street and the Art Institute , east of Michigan Avenue , south of Randolph Street , and west of Columbus Drive , had been Illinois Central rail yards and parking lots until 1997, when it was made available for development by the city as Millennium Park . For 2007,

7656-427: The east or the west. The sculpture also warps viewers' perception of time by changing the speed of movements such as the passing of clouds. Although in the conventional sense Cloud Gate is not an opening that leads anywhere in the same way that monumental gates do, it frames a view and is celebratory in the way it creates a ceremonial place. The work is credited with achieving a new level or understanding described as

7772-481: The elements (sun, wind, water) as well as human activity. In the United States, unlike gallery, studio, or museum artworks, which can be transferred or sold, public art is legally protected by the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 (VARA) which requires an official deaccession process for sale or removal. The following forms of public art identify to what extent public art may be physically integrated with

7888-486: The fact that a curator conducts and supervises the realization of a public art work for a third party, it can also mean that the art work is produced by a community or public who commissions a work in collaboration with a curator-mediator. For the first, significant examples of these prospective manners of commissioning art projects have been established by the Public Art Fund launched by Doris C. Freedman in 1977, with

8004-516: The final figure was almost twice as heavy at 110 short tons (100 t; 98 long tons). This extra weight required engineers to reconsider the sculpture's supporting structures. The roof of the Park Grill , upon which Cloud Gate sits, had to be built strong enough to bear the weight. The large retaining wall separating Chicago's Metra train tracks from the North Grant Park garage supports much of

8120-534: The first public and private open-air sculpture exhibitions and collections dating back to the 1930s aimed at creating an appropriate setting for large-scale sculptural forms difficult to show in museum galleries, installations such as Noguchi's Garden in Queens , New York (1985) reflect the necessity of a permanent relationship between the artwork and its site. This relationship also develops in Donald Judd ’s project for

8236-404: The garden as three stars, but projected it to be a four star venue once mature. He praised the light plate especially for its vibrant composition and undulating garden as a fitting contrast to the historic Chicago skyline. He also praised the symbolism of the seam for its uniqueness. He considers the garden a testament to the value of urban planning of public spaces. Botts noted that the reward of

8352-403: The garden consists entirely of perennials. It does not now nor does it intend to incorporate annuals , which rarely survive Chicago winters. Approximately 60% of the plant life in the light and dark plates are plants that are native to Illinois. It is located across the street from the Art Institute of Chicago 's new Modern Wing, and within the park it is south of Jay Pritzker Pavilion , east of

8468-487: The garden diagonally. However, stories in the sixth year of the garden described steel bridges. The entire garden slopes downward to present itself for the new Renzo Piano Modern Wing addition to the Art Institute of Chicago Building . At the foot of the canal opposite the Building the water ends in a pool. Israel's lighting accents the hedges, and pathways are lit by in-ground lighting fixtures. There were complaints that

8584-439: The garden into two plates, one of which contains muted colors, the other bright colors, while paralleling the line of the old Illinois Central Railroad retaining wall. The dark plate represents the early landscape history of the site, while the light plate represents the landscape of the future. The diagonal plate-dividing seam boardwalk serves as a demarcation between two eras of Chicago's landscape development. It also serves as

8700-537: The garden's north and west sides, and the hedge and armature help to protect the perennials from heavy pedestrian traffic. The 14-foot (4.3 m) armature also provides a permanent pruning guide. In addition to the Carl Sandburg symbolism, the western hedge also forms a topiary referring to greek mythology . Lurie Garden is bisected by a diagonal boardwalk , which represents the natural Lake Michigan seawall that still bisects Grant Park. The boardwalk divides

8816-586: The grand opening week in July 2004, press reports described the omphalos as the "spoon-like underbelly". The stainless steel sculpture was originally envisioned as the centerpiece of the Lurie Garden at the southeast corner of the park. However, Park officials believed the piece was too large for the Lurie Garden and decided to locate it at what is now known as Grainger Plaza , despite Kapoor's objections. Skyscrapers to

8932-446: The ground that was accessible via an elevator. The committee chose the second design by internationally acclaimed artist Anish Kapoor . Measuring 33 by 66 by 42 feet (10 by 20 by 13 m) and weighing 110 short tons (100 t; 98 long tons), the proposal featured a seamless, stainless steel surface inspired by liquid mercury . This mirror-like surface would reflect the Chicago skyline, but its elliptical shape would distort and twist

9048-417: The group's Extraordinary Welding Award. Time named Millennium Park one of the ten best architectural achievements of 2004, citing Cloud Gate as one of the park's major attractions. What I wanted to do in Millennium Park is make something that would engage the Chicago skyline ... so that one will see the clouds kind of floating in, with those very tall buildings reflected in the work. And then, since it

9164-429: The here–the beyond, east–west, sky–earth, etc. that create the conflict between internal and external, superficial and subterranean, and conscious and unconscious. Kapoor also creates a tension between masculine and feminine within his art by having concave points of focus that invite the entry of visitors and multiplies their images when they are positioned correctly. Kapoor often speaks of removing both

9280-459: The immediate context or environment. These forms, which can overlap, employ different types of public art that suit a particular form of environment integration. In the 1930s, the production of national symbolism implied by 19th century monuments began being regulated by long-term national programs with propaganda goals ( Federal Art Project , United States; Cultural Office, Soviet Union). Programs like President Roosevelt's New Deal facilitated

9396-465: The increase of ecological awareness through a green urban design process, bringing Denes to plant a two-acre field of wheat in downtown Manhattan and Beuys to plant 7000 oaks coupled with basalt blocks in Kassel, Germany in a guerrilla or community garden fashion. In recent years, programs of green urban regeneration aiming at converting abandoned lots into green areas regularly include public art programs. This

9512-448: The land between Randolph Street and Madison Street east of Michigan Avenue "Public Ground forever to remain vacant of buildings". Aaron Montgomery Ward , who is known both as the inventor of mail order and the protector of Grant Park, twice sued the city of Chicago to force it to remove buildings and structures from Grant Park and to keep it from building new ones. In 1890, arguing that Michigan Avenue property owners held easements on

9628-479: The north along East Randolph Street , including The Heritage , the Smurfit-Stone Building , Two Prudential Plaza , One Prudential Plaza , and Aon Center are visible, reflected on both the east and west sides of the sculpture. Around the structure, its surface acts like a fun-house mirror as it distorts their reflections. Although Kapoor does not draw with computers, computer modeling was essential to

9744-465: The northeast side of the curved sculpture. The graffiti was removed by the same firm that did the original polishing. In August 2023, the City of Chicago began renovation and construction work on Grainger Plaza, which also closed public access to Cloud Gate . The work involved accessibility improvements, including ramps and new steps, replacing pavers , and waterproofing. After being behind fencing for most of

9860-452: The outer shell; this comprises 168 stainless steel panels, each 3 ⁄ 8 inch (10 mm) thick and weighing 1,000 to 2,000 pounds (450 to 910  kg ). They were fabricated using three-dimensional modeling software. Computers and robots were essential in the bending and shaping of the plates, which was performed by English wheel and a robotic scanning device. Metal stiffeners were welded to each panel's interior face to provide

9976-532: The park land, Ward commenced legal actions to keep the park free of new buildings. In 1900, the Illinois Supreme Court concluded that all landfill east of Michigan Avenue was subject to dedications and easements. In 1909, when he sought to prevent the construction of the Field Museum of Natural History in the center of the park, the courts affirmed his arguments. As a result, the city has what are termed

10092-479: The park was Chicago's second largest tourist attraction, trailing only Navy Pier . In 1999, Millennium Park officials and a group of art collectors , curators and architects reviewed the artistic works of 30 different artists and asked two for proposals. American artist Jeff Koons submitted a proposal to erect a permanent 150-foot (46 m) sculpture of a playground slide ; his glass and steel design featured an observation deck 90 feet (27 m) above

10208-426: The park. For this price, Allstate acquired the visitation rights to a different set of features and only had exclusive access to Cloud Gate after 4 p.m. These corporate closures denied tourists access to Kapoor's public sculpture, and commuters who walk through the park were forced to take alternative routes. City officials stated that the money would help finance free public programs in Millennium Park. In 2015,

10324-416: The piece Cloud Gate . (Kapoor eventually accepted the nickname of "The Bean".) Critical reviews describe the sculpture as a passage between realms. Three-quarters of the sculpture's external surface reflects the sky and the name refers to it acting as a type of gate that helps bridge the space between the sky and the viewer. In 2008, the sculpture and plaza were sometimes referred to jointly as " Cloud Gate on

10440-469: The piece as an essential photo opportunity, and more of a destination than a work of art. The New York Times writes that it is both a "tourist magnet" and an "extraordinary art object", while USA Today refers to the sculpture as a monumental abstract work. Chicago art critic Edward Lifson considers Cloud Gate to be among the greatest pieces of public art in the world. The American Welding Society recognized Cloud Gate , MTH Industries and PSI with

10556-488: The popular imagination and hold other points of interest, but that is not what I set out to do, although there is inevitably a certain spectacular in an object like this. — Anish Kapoor Anish Kapoor has a reputation for creating spectacles in urban settings by producing works of extreme size and scale. Before creating Cloud Gate , Kapoor had created art that distorted images of the viewer instead of portraying images of its own. In doing so, he acquired experience blurring

10672-493: The process of analyzing the complex form, which created numerous issues. Since the sculpture was expected to be outdoors, concerns arose that it might retain and conduct heat in a way that would make it too hot to touch during the summer and so cold that one's tongue might stick to it during the winter. The extreme temperature variation between seasons was also feared to weaken the structure. Graffiti , bird droppings and fingerprints were also potential problems, as they would affect

10788-608: The public art genre, however this attitude is changing due to the efforts of several street artists. Such unofficial artwork may exist on private or public property immediately adjacent to the public realm, or in natural settings but, however ubiquitous, it sometimes falls outside the definition of public art by its absence of public process or public sanction as "bona fide" public art. Common characteristics of public art are public accessibility, public realm placement, community involvement, public process (including public funding); these works can be permanent or temporary. According to

10904-410: The reflected image. In the underside of the sculpture is the omphalos , an indentation whose mirrored surface provides multiple reflections of any subject situated beneath it. The apex of the omphalos is 27 feet (8.2 m) above the ground. The concave underside allows visitors to walk underneath to see the omphalos, and through its arch to the other side so that they view the entire structure. During

11020-666: The relationship between its content and the public. Cher Krause Knight states that "art's publicness rests in the quality and impact of its exchange with audiences ... at its most public, art extends opportunities for community engagement but cannot demand particular conclusion,” it introduces social ideas but leaves room for the public to come to their own conclusions. Public art is often characterized by community involvement and collaboration. Public artists and organizations often work in conjunction with architects, fabricators/construction workers, community residents and leaders, designers, funding organizations, and others. Public art

11136-863: The rosebud trees to the east could provide a pleasant shade. By the July/August 2010 issue of Garden Design , the garden was described as a garden in maturity worth revisiting. Several animal species have been sighted in the garden. 27 species of birds have been identified in the park and its garden. Butterflies and bees have are among the wildlife that visit the garden. In 2008, the garden hosted four million visitors from 21 countries. In its first few years, it has had over two dozen adult programs attended by 1,800 people each year and over three dozen family programs attended by 5,000 people per year. The garden participated in an "Ask Me" program in 2009, during which 12 volunteers logged 192 hours answering questions from 1,094 guests from 35 states and 20 countries as well as

11252-404: The sculpture attracted some controversy when a professional photographer without a paid permit was denied access to the piece. As is the case for all works of art currently covered by United States copyright law, the artist holds the copyright for the sculpture. This allows the public to freely photograph Cloud Gate , but permission from Kapoor or the City of Chicago (which has licensed the art)

11368-597: The sculpture standing. PSI contracted Advanced Building and Metal Fabrication of Chico, California to build them. The first structural pieces, two type 304 stainless steel rings, were put into place in February 2004. As construction continued, crisscrossing pipe trusses were assembled between the two rings. The trusses and supporting structures were only present for the construction phases. The finished sculpture has no inner bracing. The supporting structural components were designed and constructed to ensure that no specific point

11484-402: The sculpture was under cover for the initial filming. It is also prominently featured in the ending scene of Source Code . Director Duncan Jones felt the structure was a metaphor for the movie's subject matter and aimed for it to be shown at the beginning and end of the movie. The sculpture served as an aesthetic and symbolic setting for the 2012 film The Vow when the lead characters share

11600-416: The sculpture, affectionately referring to it as "The Bean". Cloud Gate has become a popular piece of public art and is now a fixture on many souvenirs such as postcards, sweatshirts, and posters. The sculpture has attracted a large number of locals, tourists, and art aficionados from around the world. The sculpture is now the piece by which Kapoor is most identified in the United States. Time describes

11716-573: The sheer shine and reflectivity of his objects. His works have no fixed identity, but rather occupy an illusionary space that is consistent with eastern theologies shared by Buddhism , Hinduism and Taoism , as well as Albert Einstein 's views of a non-three-dimensional world. Kapoor explores the theme of ambiguity with his works that place the viewer in a state of "in-betweenness". The artist often questions and plays with such dualities as solidity–emptiness or reality–reflection, which in turn allude to such paired opposites as flesh–spirit,

11832-534: The sides of the sculpture, while climbing ropes and harnesses were used to polish harder-to-reach areas. When the upper and side portions of the shell were completed, the tent was once again removed in August 2005. On October 3, the omphalos was closed off as workers polished the final section. Every weld on the Cloud Gate underwent a five-stage process, required to produce the sculpture's mirror-like finish. Cloud Gate

11948-406: The signature of the artist from his works as well as any traces of their fabrication, or what he refers to as "traces of the hand". He aspires to make his works look like they have independent realities that he reveals rather than creates. For him, removing all the seams from Cloud Gate was necessary in order to make the sculpture seem as though it was "perfect" and ready-made. These effects increase

12064-458: The sky, visiting and non-visiting pedestrians and surrounding architecture, Cloud Gate limits its viewers to partial comprehension at any time. The interaction with the viewer who moves to create his own vision gives it a spiritual dimension. The sculpture is described as a disembodied, luminous form, which is also how his earlier 1000 Names (1979–80) was described when it addressed the metaphysical and mystical. The viewer physically enters

12180-456: The themes and issues it addresses. While the sculpture's mirror effects are reminiscent of fun-house fairground mirrors, they also have a more serious intent; they help dematerialize this very large object, making it seem light and almost weightless. Cloud Gate is considered Kapoor's most ambitious use of complex mirrored form dynamics. Kapoor challenges his viewers to internalize his work through intellectual and theoretical exercise. By reflecting

12296-415: The town's Minster includes local residents own stories alongside official civic history and the town's origin myth. The term "curated public art" is used to define the way of producing public art that significantly takes into account the context, the process and the different actors involved. It defines itself slightly differently from top-down approaches of direct commissioning. If it mainly designates

12412-417: The viewer's fascination with it and makes them wonder what it is and where it came from. His attempts to hide his works' seams as an artist stand in contrast to Frank Gehry 's architectural designs in the park, Jay Pritzker Pavilion and BP Pedestrian Bridge , which display their seams prominently. Cloud Gate is described as a transformative, iconic work. It is similar to many of Kapoor's previous works in

12528-399: The water. It traces the angle of a historic subterranean seawall that remains beneath the site and used to be the boundary between the marshy Lake Michigan shoreline and the city. The boardwalk also crosses over stepped pools that expose a 5-foot (1.5 m) wide seam of water. The garden initially had a hardwood footbridge that passes over the shallow water in the canal, and that divides

12644-422: The weight of the sculpture and forms the back side of the restaurant. This wall, along with the rest of the garage's foundation, required additional bracing before the piece was erected. Cloud Gate is further buttressed by lateral members underneath the plaza that are anchored to the sculpture's interior structure by tie rods . Inside Cloud Gate 's polished exterior shell are several steel structures that keep

12760-664: Was Jim Pallas ' 1980 C entury of Light in Detroit, Michigan of a large outdoor mandala of lights that reacted in complex ways to sounds and movements detected by radar (mistakenly destroyed 25 years later ). Another example is Rebecca Hackemann's two works The Public Utteraton Machines of 2015 and The Urban Field Glass Project / Visionary Sightseeing Binoculars 2 008, 20013, 2021, 2022. The Public Utteraton Machines records people's opinions of other public art in New York, such as Jeff Koon's Split Rocker and displays responses online . In

12876-489: Was a flattering imitation. A movement to " Windex the Bean" was started in 2017, with the premise that the sculpture is dirty and needs to be cleaned. Posted as an event on Facebook, over 2000 people marked themselves as "going". The post also spawned a variety of similar joke movements. I hope what I have done is make a serious work, which deals with serious questions about form, public space and an object in space. You can capture

12992-450: Was commissioned in 2016 in Haryana, India, among the remote deciduous terrain of Tikli village a team coordinated by Artist Hunny Mor painted two leopards perched on branches on a water source tank 115 feet high. The campaign was aimed to spread awareness on co-habitation and environmental conservation. The art work can be seen from several miles across in all directions. Ron Finley 's work as

13108-413: Was finally completed on August 28, 2005, and officially unveiled on May 15, 2006. The cost for the piece was first estimated at $ 6 million; this had escalated to $ 11.5 million by the time the park opened in 2004, with the final figure standing at $ 23 million in 2006. No public funds were involved; all funding came from donations from individuals and corporations. Kapoor's contract states that

13224-421: Was necessary when lifting and fitting them into position. When construction of the shell began in June 2004, a large tent was erected around the piece to shield it from public view. Construction began with the omphalos, where plates were attached to the supporting internal steel structure, from the inside (underside) of the sculpture downward to the outermost surfaces. This sequence caused the structure to resemble

13340-424: Was overloaded, and to avoid producing unwanted indentations on the exterior shell. The frame was also designed to expand and contract with the sculpture as temperatures fluctuate. As a result, the two large rings supporting the sculpture move independently of each other, allowing the shell to move independently of the rings. When Cloud Gate' s interior components were completed, construction crews prepared to work on

13456-450: Was to re-erect the tent around the sculpture for polishing on July 24, but public appreciation for the piece convinced park officials to leave it uncovered for several months. The tent was again erected in January 2005 as a 24-person crew from Ironworkers Local 63 polished the seams between each plate. In order to grind, sand and polish the seams, six levels of scaffolding were erected around

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