Takeshi Miyakawa, a visual artist and furniture designer, sets up a public art display in Brooklyn, N.Y. (Courtesy of Louis Lim/AP)

Designer sent to jail after his art is confused for a bomb

5/22/2012

​A 50-year-old furniture designer was arrested in New York after a passerby spotted one of his pieces - and called the cops. Takeshi Miyakawa -- whose furniture designs can fetch as much as $20,000 - was born in Japan but is now based in Queens. In tribute to his adopted hometown, Miyakawa devised an art project for which plastic bags featuring the city's trademark "I <3 NY" logo would be lit from within and hung from lampposts and trees in Brooklyn. All in all, a warmhearted, civic-minded plan - until a passerby spotted Miyakawa installing the pieces and called the bomb squad. Miyakawa was charged with reckless endangerment and related bomb charges - and he's being held for up to 30 days pending a psychological exam.

most recent

Should the artist have been arrested?