News that the internationally known Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was released from prison late Wednesday was greeted with relief by supporters around the world. His three-month incarceration, ostensibly for tax evasion, had sparked protests and criticism of Chinese human rights policy in international diplomatic and cultural circles.

"I'm released, I'm home, I'm fine," Ai told the New York Times. Because he was legally on bail, he was apparently forbidden to give interviews, but was permitted to confirm his status. He was an outspoken critic of the Chinese Communist Party prior to his arrest on April 3, and several of his aides and supporters are still missing and presumed imprisoned according to researchers for Human Rights Watch.

Locally, Walker Art Center was planning a July 12 tribute to the artist as a protest against China's crackdown on freedom of expression. The Minneapolis museum has invited the public to place 1,001 chairs on the Walker's lawn between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on July 12 which would have been the 100th day of his imprisonment. Artists and arts organizations had staged similar protests outside Chinese embassies and consulates after his arrest earlier this spring.

"The news that he's been released is great," said Christopher James, Walker spokesperson. The Walker plans to go ahead with the chair event even though the artist is now free. The public is encouraged to drop off chairs throughout the day and to return at 6 p.m. when Walker director Olga Viso will comment on the artist and international free speach issues. Walker galleries will also be free that day to encourage visitors to check out other contemporary artistic statements. Admission is normally $10 for adults.

"Now that Ai Weiwei happily has been released, we're recasting this as an event to support artists in general and the voices of artists who have been censored around the world whose names we may not even know," said James.

The Walker's chair protest echoes Ai's installation "Fairytale: 1001 Qing Dynasty Wooden Chairs," in which the artist amassed 1001 late Ming and Qing dynasty chairs in a hall at Documenta 12 in Kassel, Germany in 2007. The antique chairs were intended to call attention to the distruction of antiquities in Ai's homeland where whole traditional villages have been bulldozed or submerged in recent decades as part of China's headlong efforts to modernize.

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts owns a white marble sculpture by Ai that replicates a traditonal wooden Ming dynasty chair. The museum displays it in an authentic Ming-era room representative of China's traditional culture.

Ai's chair installation from Kassel