Someone Is Sticking Googly Eyes on Public Sculptures in Oregon—and City Officials Are Not Amused

All eyes are on Bend, Oregon, where a mysterious vandal (or group of vandals) has been sticking large, plastic googly eyes on public art sculptures around the city. Many residents say they love the unofficial adornments, but municipal authorities are not amused.

The culprit (or culprits) adhered googly eyes to eight art installations in the city’s Roundabout Art Route, a path linking 27 sculptures placed in the middle of traffic circles. They affixed them to a six-foot sphere called Orb I created by artist Brandon Zebold; a sculpture of a horse called Bueno Homage to the Buckaroo by Danae Bennett-Miller; and a piece depicting a family of deer called Big Ears by Joe Halko, among others.

So far, city officials say they’ve spent $1,500 removing the googly eyes from the sculptures, per the New York Times’ Emmett Lindner. They also expect to spend another $5,000 to clean and restore a piece called Crossroads, which was also vandalized with graffiti.

“Adhesives can pull off the paint, wax or other protective coatings on the metals,” René Mitchell, a city spokesperson, tells the Times. “If paint on steel is chipped, scratched or removed with adhesives, the steel will rust.”

Bend police are not looking for the vandals, nor are they conducting an investigation. But in a recent social media post, the city called on residents to take care of public art. Bend, located in central Oregon on the Deschutes River, is home to roughly 100,000 people.

“While the googly eyes placed on the various art pieces around town might give you a chuckle, it costs money to remove them with care to not damage the art,” according to the Instagram post.

The sculptures have been previously decorated with Santa hats, wreaths and leis. The city says it does not condone those adornments either, but asked residents to “stay away from adhesives, graffiti and all things that can damage the art.”

Online commenters expressed their support for the googly eyes—and poked fun at the city’s response to the prank.

“Long live the Googly Eyes Bandit!!!” one person wrote.

“Don’t worry citizens, [the] city of Bend is tackling the big issues I see,” wrote another.

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Artist Ulrich Pakker created one of the pieces that was googly-eyed, a sculpture called Three Rising. His wife, Pamela Pakker-Kozicki, who co-owns and manages Ulrich Pakker Studios with him, tells the Times that she thinks the adornments are “silly” and “playful,” but only if they can be easily removed and do not damage the sculpture.

“It is vastly preferable for a piece of public art to have interactions with the public than be ignored,” she says.

Bend resident Melinda Hannah echoed that sentiment, telling Central Oregon Daily News’ Steele Haugen that she wasn’t aware the googly eyes were causing damage but that, overall, she loves them.

“I think it brings joy,” she says.

The brouhaha even caught the attention of Stephen Colbert, who discussed it during a segment of his show “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.”

“You’re gonna get mad about that? It’s fun,” Colbert said. “And, frankly, it’s safer. If Bambi’s mom had had those eyes, maybe she’d have seen that hunter coming.”

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Melanie Kebler, the mayor of Bend, posted the Colbert clip on social media and wrote in the caption that she was not upset about the prank.

City officials say they never intended to be “heavy-handed” with their response, and they encourage the community “to engage with the art and have fun,” Mitchell tells the Associated Press’ Claire Rush.

“We just need to make sure that we can protect it and that it doesn’t get damaged,” she adds.

Meanwhile, in Boston, authorities willingly affixed googly eyes to the front of some subway trains earlier this year. A group of “transit enthusiasts” approached the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority with the idea, writes the AP’s Steve LeBlanc.

“When we chatted about it, it would be like finding Waldo,” Phillip Eng, the agency’s general manager and CEO, told the AP. “It gave us all a chance to have a laugh and for the people who use our service to have some fun.”

Sarah Kuta | READ MORE

Sarah Kuta is a writer and editor based in Longmont, Colorado. She covers history, science, travel, food and beverage, sustainability, economics and other topics.