AR-15 Art Project At Chicago's Daley Plaza Removed Early

CHICAGO, IL — An expired city permit is the reason a provocative art display at Daley Plaza was removed a couple days earlier than planned. The Metro Gun Share installation — a row of assault rifles resting on stands made to look like Divvy bike-share stations — was taken down Monday night by the Brady Campaign and Center to Prevent Gun Violence and the Chicago-based Escape Pod ad agency, the groups behind the project, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The temporary display of 10 hand-painted, replica AR-15s was originally planned to be up through Wednesday, May 16. But Brady Center spokesman Max Samis told the Tribune that the permit for the installation ended Monday, May 14.

The project, which went up at Daley Plaza last week, took artists four months to complete. Along with the mock firearms, the installation also has an interactive kiosk that shows how easy it is to buy guns in Indiana, and it lets people donate to the Brady Center.

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"The Metro Gun Share project does not attempt to present answers, but invites people to pose questions," Kevin O'Neill, an artist on the project, told Patch. "Only by enough people speaking up, and asking questions to each other and our representatives, can we work together towards controlling the widespread violence that manifests in mass shootings in America."

Samis told the Tribune he wasn't sure where or when the installation would be displayed next.

More via the Chicago Tribune

The Metro Gun Share temporary art installation at Chicago's Daley Plaza in May 2018. (Photos via Kevin O'Neill)