Caroline MacFarlane saves Orange Raleigh

ART HISTORY - Awhile back I was coming home from Chinatown and walked by the AGO. En route I noticed the orange painted Raleigh bicycle, shown here. The artist had apparently gone through a lot of effort to protect the bicycle ring stand it was locked to from getting paint on it.

I wanted to mention it on here, but when I got home I promptly forgot about it. (I have so many blog ideas I forget to write about its ridiculous...)

Anywho, it might have been relegated to the back of my mind, but the city officials nearby apparently decided that painted artworks (abandoned bicycles or not) don't belong attached to bicycle ring stands.

They issued a removal order and attached it to the bike, which the artist Caroline MacFarlane later found, got upset about and promptly blogged about it.

Then Councillor Adam Vaughan called the removal order another blow in the “war on creativity.” Picked up by the local mass media, the topic of "war on creativity" got a lot of attention from Torontonians... and around the world.

So much that the city has since backed down on the issue and the orange Raleigh is still there, despite it supposed to being removed yesterday (Monday June 6th).

Discussions are now being batted around about what will become of the art piece. No matter what happens, it won’t be destroyed.

“Whether it stays in front of the gallery or travels around the city, both are options we’re exploring,” says MacFarlane.