Fairey To Finally DJ The Party Boston Rained On

July 31, 2009

Andrea Shea

Shepard Fairey was supposed to DJ the opening of his exhibition at the ICA on Feb. 9. Instead, Boston police arrested him enroute and he found himself in Boston District Court on a vandilization charge. (AP) — Shepard Fairey was supposed to DJ the opening of his exhibition at the ICA on Feb. 9. Instead, Boston police arrested him enroute and he found himself in court on a vandalization charge. Five months later, he'll DJ at the museum in a farewell to Boston. (AP)

After months of conflict with Boston police, the artist behind the "Hope" image of President Obama is saying goodbye to Boston.

Shepard Fairey's first retrospective opened at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston last February.

The graffiti artist was scheduled to DJ the museum's kick-off party, but the Boston police arrested him enroute. On Friday night, Fairey gets his chance to celebrate on stage at the exhibition's closing party.

He's also closing the book on his lengthy legal battle. It ended this month with Fairey pleading guilty to three counts of vandalism and getting two years of probation.

"Even though aspects of it have been trying, I think overall it's been very valuable for me and hopefully maybe provoked some valuable discussion for a lot of people," Fairey said of his battle with the Boston police.

Shepard Fairey's exhibition at the ICA closes in about two weeks, where it broke attendance records.

This program aired on July 31, 2009. The audio for this program is not available.