Piece of work: Vandals target public art installation
A piece of public art in downtown Charlottetown has been vandalized.
Sputnik Returned 2, a red car that appears to have a satellite that has landed on top it, has been displayed on Grafton Street for the past couple weeks.
Over the weekend, one of the legs of the satellite was broken off and the windshield had been smashed.
The sculpture is from an Ontario artist and was part of Art in the Open. It will also be a part of the art event Flotilla next week.
'An expensive piece'
"At first I was like, 'Ugh, oh no like how much damage was done?' It's quite an expensive piece," said Becka Viau, the project manager for both events.
"Something like this runs around $25,000 — the sculpture itself, plus all of the time and community effort it goes into to install. So at first I was like, 'Oh no, my art baby … was damaged' but you know, I think it's also an eye-opener just at what public art can provoke in people."
Organizers were able to reattach the leg.
'Certain amount of risk'
"When you do install public art like this on the street, you do take a certain amount of risk with the public playing games with your art. It sort of becomes part of the concept and part of the artwork itself," she said.
A police report has been filed and officers are looking into the incident.
There's been no word on who caused the damage.
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