The public square in front of Chicago City Hall holds an untitled 50-foot steel sculpture by Pablo Picasso, installed in 1967. The Picasso was the first major public sculpture in the Loop and remains one of the most discussed works of public art in American urban history — a gift from the artist who refused payment, depicting an animal (possibly a baboon, possibly a woman's head) that the city initially received with considerable ambivalence.
The plaza hosts the Chicago Farmers Market on Thursday mornings, ice skating in winter, and public events throughout the year. The surrounding buildings — the Daley Center (1965) with its Cor-Ten steel that matches the Picasso; Chicago City Hall (1911); and the County Building — form one of Chicago's most civic-scaled urban spaces. Washington and Dearborn.