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Chicago’s ‘Bean’ reflects everyone’s best side
By Tom Adkinson


chicago bean
Joyous Jumps at The Bean; image by Tom Adkinson.

CHICAGO – Two Chicago visitors do better than a selfie at “The Bean” by enlisting a passerby to capture their joyous jump in front of the massive piece of public art in Chicago’s Millennium Park. There may not be a city ordinance requiring it, but there’s certainly a tourist imperative to capture a photo of yourself posing with the gleaming stainless steel sculpture.

Sir Anish Kopoor, who was born in Mumbai, studied in Israel and eventually landed in London, created the 110-ton sculpture. Construction spanned three years (2004-2006). Kopoor has other big pieces of public art around the world, but “The Bean” probably is the most famous.

Although “The Bean” is made of 168 stainless steel panels, each weighing from one to two tons, there are no visible welding seams. It is 33 feet wide, 66 feet long and 42 feet high. The lower portions are touchable, and cleaning crews wipe off fingerprints twice a day. Its real name is “Cloud Gate,” so named because it reflects the sky and bends that reflection down into a gate shape. It delivers peculiar distortions of the Chicago skyline and of individuals who position themselves just so for selfies. If you have space for your own “Bean,” save up $11.5 million – and buy Windex by the barrel.


Trip-planning resource: ChooseChicago.com

(Travel writer Tom Adkinson’s new book, 100 Things To Do in Nashville Before You Die, is available at CornersOfTheCountry.com.)

Published September 27, 2019









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