Bend went viral this past week, making international headlines for the “lighthearted vandalism” that saw cartoonish googly eyes placed on public art installations throughout the city. The story appeared on Steven Colbert’s late night show and in the New York Times, BBC and Associated Press News in addition to other publications.

News of the artificial plastic eyes that have appeared on eight of Bend’s roundabout sculptures — including the iconic westside sculpture “Phoenix Rising,” colloquially known as the “Flaming Chicken” — gained momentum after the city put out a plea for the vandalism to stop.

“We love our roundabout art in Bend, so let’s do our part to take care of it. 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 not to damage the art,” the city said in a Facebook post on its official page.

The googly eyes first started appearing on roundabout statues this summer, as first reported Sept. 20 in The Bulletin.

Public response

Despite the city’s chastisement of the googly-eye bandit, Bend Mayor Melanie Kebler still seems to be getting a chuckle over the current situation. While she said it’s important to be transparent about how much this “light hearted vandalism” is costing the city, she’s happy that so many people are finding renewed joy in the sculptures.

“It’s a little baffling and amazing that the googly eyes have gone viral, but I think it’s inspiring the community to think about public art in a new way, which is a good thing! We can all use a little more joy this winter season,” she told The Bulletin.

Overall, public response to the situation has been largely positive, with many people stating how much they enjoy the googly eyes. In fact, some of the 380 commenters on the city’s Facebook post actually criticized the city for addressing the googly eye issue above other, perhaps more important, public safety issues.

“We’ll worry about the googly-eyes and their scotch tape when you worry about actual real life problems in this city. Get your act together,” Jaylin Hunt commented on the city’s Facebook post, garnering 62 likes.

Bend Communications Director René Mitchell said the city’s post was originally just meant to simply bring awareness to the damage googly eyes can do to the sculptures, but never anticipated such a wide-spread reaction to the stunt.

“We never anticipated the story to go international. Who doesn’t love ending up on ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert?’” Mitchell said. “We’re not trying to squash a little cheer — we just want to make sure the art lasts for years to come. We do love that the story has brought more eyes, dare I say googly eyes, to our public art collection.

Damages to the art

Mitchell told national news outlets that removing the googly-eyes has cost the city $1,500 in damages. In September, when the phenomenon first began, The Bulletin reported that in order to remove the adhesive used to affix the googly eyes the city must bring in a special art conservator.

“Some of them come off easier, but some have quite a bit of adhesive that is now adhering to the metal, so you can’t just pull them off. You have to use different solvents and chemicals that remove the adhesive glue that also doesn’t damage the metal underneath,” Romy Mortensen, board president of Central Oregon arts nonprofit Art in Public Places, said in a September interview with The Bulletin.

Art in Public Places is the organization that commissions and donates roundabout art to the City of Bend, funding their acquisitions through the Bend Foundation. While the sculptures are owned and generally maintained by the city, Art in Public Places also plays a role in conserving the art and making repairs when it is defaced.

Mortensen doesn’t believe the googly-eye perpetrator means any harm, but requests that the person finds a different way to engage with the sculptures.

“We appreciate their interest, but we’d like them to recognize that it’s damaging the art, which I don’t believe was their intention. Googly eyes make everybody giggle. It’s funny, but at the end of the day it’s damaging and that costs the taxpayers money to have that fixed.”

Which sculptures have been hit?

So far, the sculptures that have been tagged with googly eyes are:

• “Three Rising” at SE Reed Market Road and SE 15th Street

• “Crossroads” at SW Colorado Avenue and SW Columbia Street

• “Atilt, Sundra and Garden Gate” at NW Newport Avenue and NW 14th Street

• “Big Ears” at SW Century Drive and SW Simpson Avenue

• “Might of the Workforce” at NE Eighth Street and NE Butler Market Road

• “Orb 1” at Skyliners Road and NW Mt. Washington Drive

• “Phoenix Rising” at 14th Street and Galveston Avenue

• “Bueno Homage to the Buckaroo” at Newport Avenue and Ninth Street