MnDOT halts drone flights over Van Gogh crop art

August 20, 2015 6:08 PM

Aerial view of the site — Staff at Thomson Reuters, which owns the site in Eagan, Minn., where Stan Herd is at work, have been documenting the development of the image using cameras mounted on low-flying drones. This image was taken on the evening of July 28, 2015.
Jeff Ferguson | Courtesy Thomson Reuters

The Minnesota Department of Transportation has ordered a halt to drone flights over a work of art in Eagan.

In a written statement, the Minneapolis Institute of Art and Thomson Reuters confirmed that MnDOT had ordered them to stop flying an unmanned aircraft system, commonly known as a drone.

The device was being used to document the progress of crop artist Stan Herd's reproduction of Vincent van Gogh's painting "Olive Trees" on a one-acre plot owned by Thomson Reuters in Eagan. The project is part of the institute's centennial celebrations, and is designed to be seen from planes landing at Minneapolis-St Paul International.

The statement said the organizers had thought they had made the proper inquiries about using the device and that they were outside the 5-mile exclusion zone that bars such devices near airports. They said they would comply with the order.

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