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Local artist Ken Crampton in the pits that city won't use his faux fruit during New Year's Eve extravaganza. Date published: 4/22/2005 By ELIZABETH PEZZULLO Event organizers laughed at Ken Crampton's idea of using a pear made of chicken-wire to highlight the city's First Night festivities in 1994. But for 10 of the past 11 years, Crampton, with the city's blessing, has proudly lowered the 6-foot-tall, 4-foot-wide faux fruit into a cheering crowd on New Year's Eve. But after his pear was beaten to a pulp by overexuberant teenagers this past New Year's Eve, the city opted for a change. The city decided Crampton's pear will play second banana to a fresh design submitted by the public. But Crampton doesn't find that very peachy. "They laughed at it, but now it's something they want to own and claim is there's," said Crampton, who owns Eyeclopes Studio on Caroline Street. Crampton said the pear is his intellectual property and copyrighted. He said meetings with the city illuminating this point have been the pits. "I'm trying to negotiate with them but they keep insulting me by saying we don't think you own it, and you didn't create it," he said. The city is asking the public to submit designs for a replacement pear. "It's a community celebration and here was our chance to invite the community to participate in our midnight celebration," said First Night coordinator Kimberly Herbert. "We in no way excluded Mr. Crampton." City officials say Crampton can submit a design like anyone else. "Why should I compete for something that's already mine?" he said. "I want them to either purchase the idea from me or license the idea to maintain its artistic integrity." Crampton said this latest disagreement is a throw back to 1998. That's when the city trucked in an outside pear from Nevada and attached it to the Executive Plaza office building. "It was like the wound was reopened from years ago," Crampton said. He believes politics were to blame for his pear getting overlooked that year. At the time, he was an outspoken critic of the city's decision to rezone land for the Celebrate Virginia tourism campus. But this time, he's baffled by the hostility toward his precious pear. "I don't see why it's happening this time," he said. "I'm not a government watchdog or organizing the citizens." Herbert insists the city just wants to give other local artists a chance to participate.
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