"Oregon Public Art Prank Gets Eye Roll From City” , an article in the December 17, 2024 issue of The New York Times notes that since August 2024 eight works of public art along the Roundabout Art Route in Bend, Oregon have been altered by the addition of large pairs of “googly eyes”. Bend spent $1,200 to have the eyes removed from the sculptures without damaging them and issued a statement on social media saying, “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 to not damage the art.” Among the residents loved the eyes, some were angered that they had been removed. The wife of one of the artists whose work had been altered said that “It is vastly preferable for a piece of public art to have interactions with the public than be ignored. ” There is a lot of outreach conservation needs to do to make the public understand why this might not have been the best kind of interaction with public art