http://www.aclu.org/news/NewsPrint.cfm?ID=17297&c=83
A depressing story
Nude statue in B.C. traffic circle distracts drivers
Last Updated Tue, 11 Jan 2005 10:54:42 EST
CBC News

PENTICTON, B.C. - Politicians in Penticton, B.C., are taking heat for paying $5,000 to install an artwork in the middle of a traffic circle that includes a 2.2-metre tall statue of a naked man.
The statue, called The Baggage Handler, went up a week ago. It shows the man's nude figure surrounded by a number of colourful suitcases meant to represent emotional baggage.
The offending portion, censored.
After some distracted drivers narrowly avoided accidents upon seeing the display, artist Michael Hermesh was told to bolt a metal plate in front of the statue's genitalia.

"I was furious!" he recalled. "I spent a day walking around my studio kicking things!"
The city then had a change of heart, with councillors voting 5-1 Monday night to tell Hermesh to take the metal plate off again.
Mayor Dave Perry was the lone holdout who thought the protective plate should stay. He said he was not aware The Baggage Handler would include the figure of a naked man holding a suitcase when the city agreed to purchase it for the traffic circle.
The city's funding for the piece brought reaction that ranged from "notes taped to the front door of city hall demanding my resignation [to] phone calls saying they're offended by it," said Perry.
"Nudity begets controversy, and controversy is the issue here," he said. "We don't need the controversy, we just need some public art the majority of the community can buy into."
Driver Katrina Woo describes the statue as a "naked old man with a paunch."
Statue and sculptor
"She was so shocked we almost got into a car accident when we saw that thing," said Ian McGraw, who was driving with Woo at the time.
The statue has its defenders, though.
Passerby Rob Semeniuk doesn't mind the piece.
"A lot of creativity has gone into it," he said. "I kinda like it. It gives me something to look at and I find it interesting."
Curtis Collins, curator at the South Okanagan Art Gallery.
Curtis Collins, a curator at the South Okanagan Art Gallery, also thought the man's nudity was not offensive, joking: "He looks like he just got out of Okanagan Lake."
But in a serious defence of the piece, he added: "Part of the purpose of art is to both comfort people and challenge them."
For his part, Perry said he's had enough artistic controversy to last him a lifetime. He said Penticton will be more cautious in the future when it pays for public art.
The statue will stay up until September, when it is slated to be replaced by a different piece of public art.