Feds OK Christo’s Next Art Project

"The Gates" may soon finally have a sequel: the Interior Department has approved plans for Christo’s next art project in which he hopes to drape 5.9 miles of fabric over a stretch of the Arkansas River in Colorado. Christo has been working on the project, expected to cost a total of $50 million, since 1992. (He will fund the project on his own through selling artwork.) The Interior Department said in a 1,686-page report that Christo has taken steps to mitigate the project’s environmental impact; he also has the support of Colorado’s governor. He will still need, however, the approval of state transportation agencies and two counties. He hopes the project will be ready in August 2014.