City clears up confusion over who paid for sculpture kid toppled
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The mystery of which insurer is on the hook for compensating the city of Overland Park, Kansas, after a 5-year-old knocked over a $132,000 glass sculpture in May was solved this week.
A spokesman for the city had earlier said that the insurer for the child’s parents paid $107,000 to Overland Park after he toppled the glass sculpture. According to the Kansas City Star, however, the spokesman said Tuesday that he was mistaken in his previous announcement and that it was the city’s own insurer, Travelers Cos. Inc., that cut the check, which covered the cost of the sculpture, minus the city’s $25,000 deductible.
The spokesman told the Star that the city paid the artist, William Lyons of Kansas City, $99,000 for the sculpture, which is what he would have received after the city’s commission if it had been sold at a community center’s art sale.
The incident sparked controversy after a video went viral showing the sculpture falling from a pedestal after the child apparently dislodged it while trying to hug it. Parents across the country weighed in on social media on who should be held responsible for the damage to the sculpture: the child’s parents or the community center.
The child’s mother was adamant that the community center was responsible as it was displaying an unsecured, expensive sculpture in an area full of families and children, according to news reports.
Whether Travelers will seek to subrogate the claim with the parents’ unidentified insurer remains to be seen, the spokesman told the Star.
The damaged sculpture is now in storage pending any future litigation, but its ultimate disposition will be up to the insurers, he said.
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