Donut painting sparks free speech debate in New Hampshire town

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Where is the line between art, and advertising? The unresolved question is testing the direct democracy of a small New England town, where a painting of pastries has led to zoning dispute, a First Amendment lawsuit and a local vote.

CONWAY, N.H. — Bakery owner Sean Young was thrilled when high school art students covered the big blank wall over his doorway last spring with a painting of the sun shining over a mountain range made of sprinkle-covered chocolate and strawberry donuts, a blueberry muffin, a cinnamon roll and other pastries.

The painting could stay right where it is if it showed actual mountains, instead of pastries suggesting mountains, or if the building wasn’t a bakery. Following a longstanding democratic tradition of New England town meetings, residents deliberated how to define a sign before ultimately voting down changes last week. The local newspaper said the proposed wording wasn’t clear. Ultimately, a judge may have to resolve what remains an open debate in town.“Everyone has to comply with the ordinance,” said Charlie Birch, a former U.S. Forest Service worker.

Young, who is being represented by the Virginia-based Institute for Justice, asked for $1 in damages. Meanwhile, he’s selling T-shirts as a high school art department fundraiser, saying “This is Art” with the artwork on the front, and “This is a Sign” of a roadside “Leavitt’s Country Bakery” sign on the back.

Board member Luigi Bartolomeo said he thinks the pastry painting is art, not advertising. He read the definition out loud at the board’s meeting in August, and said he agrees with a local attorney who called it “unconstitutionally vague.”

 

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