Chicago was the first city to have a nationally recognized large-scale city-wide temporary public art exhibit with its cows in 1999. Other cities soon followed suit, while every year Chicago has come up with a new variation on the theme. Here’s a list from what I remember since the cow year in 1999:
1999
Cows on Parade (322 cows across the city)
2000
The Ping PongÆ Festival, Table Tennis (300 tables across the city)
2001
Suite Home Chicago (500 couches across the city)
2002
Something with Music (musicians playing at certain times at certain points in the city)
2003
Bobblehead baseball players (quantity?) (All-Star Game in Comisky Park)
2004
Mickey Mouse (15, 6-feet tall, 700lb along State Street)
2005
What’s on this year?
In 2005 there is Art Connects: The River (9 sculptures along the Chicago River). Although “Art Connects” was also the theme of an exhibit in Oct 1-31, 2004 on the River.
In 2005, Mayor Daley has decided to make a artistic statement by controlling the weather and refusing to let it rain. Not since the drought of 1988 have we seen such brown grass. 2005 is the year of brown grass.
the “2005: Year of the Brown Grass Art Exhibit” can be viewed in the front yard of every single home in Chicago and Chicagoland. Daley is quite a powerful mayor where he can turn everyone’s property into a work of art.