Picasso Like It's 1967 – Restaging of Daley Plaza Picasso Dedication August 8

The Picasso sculpture in Daley Plaza is one of the most distinctive landmarks in Chicago. This year is the 50th anniversary of the installation, and as part of the Year of Public Art, the City of Chicago will celebrate at Everyone’s Picasso – a restaging event of the 1967 unveiling at Daley Plaza.

Originally met with mixed reviews by the public, the Picasso has become a Chicago icon attracting visitors from around the world.

The Chicago Picasso is considered to be artist Pablo Picasso’s first large-scale civic sculpture in America. The world-renowned sculpture stands 50 feet tall on a base of granite and is constructed of the same Cor-Ten steel as the building behind it.

The 50^th anniversary and restaging will welcome Chicagoans and visitors alike, and include both attendees present at the original 1976 unveiling, as well as engage a new generation of young people with the artwork.  The Restaging takes place on August 8, 2017, at 12 p.m.

An additional free-admission film and lecture series will celebrate the 50^th anniversary of Chicago’s Picasso at the Chicago Cultural Center (78 E. Washington St.). The Public Art Film Series on August 12 and 13 at 2 p.m. and August 14 and 15 at 6:30 p.m. will feature films providing a time capsule to when public art, murals and sculpture were just beginning to take form in Chicago.

The August 15 screening will include a film related to Picasso’s 1967 dedication. Also on August 15, at 12:15 p.m., cultural historian Paul Durica will moderate a conversation with Chicago artists, YouMedia teens and representatives from the Studs Terkel Radio Archive on “50 Years Later: Reflections on Chicago’s Picasso.”

For additional details and a listing of all Year of Public Art events, visit cityofchicago.org/yopa—and join the conversation on Facebook (Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events), Twitter and Instagram, @ChicagoDCASE #2017isYOPA #ChiPublicArt.