Where is the line between art and advertising? The question is central to a big dispute in a small American town. A large painting in Conway, New Hampshire, has led to a zoning conflict, a First Amendment legal action and a local vote. It started with a high school art project to paint a picture on a building in the town. The building houses a store called Leavitt’s Country Bakery. The picture shows the sun shining over mountains of chocolate and strawberry donuts, a cinnamon roll and a blueberry muffin. These a...
Where is the line between art and advertising? The question is central to a big dispute in a small American town. A large painting in Conway, New Hampshire, has led to a zoning conflict, a First Amendment legal action and a local vote. It started with a high school art project to paint a picture on a building in the town. The building houses a store called Leavitt’s Country Bakery. The picture shows the sun shining over mountains of chocolate and strawberry donuts, a cinnamon roll and a blueberry muffin. These are the kinds of sweet treats found in bakeries. Then the town zoning board got involved. It decided that the painting was more advertising than art. Officials said that, as an advertisement, the sign was too big. Its size violated town rules. The board ordered the sign be removed or changed.
艺术与广告的界限在哪里？这个问题是美国小镇一场大争论的核心。新罕布什尔州康威的一幅大型画作引发了分区冲突、第一修正案法律诉讼和当地投票。它始于一个高中艺术项目，在镇上的一栋建筑上画一幅画。该建筑内有一家名为 Leavitt’s Country Bakery 的商店。图为阳光照耀着堆积如山的巧克力和草莓甜甜圈、肉桂卷和蓝莓松饼。这些是面包店里的甜食。然后城镇分区委员会介入了。它决定这幅画与其说是艺术，不如说是广告。官方表示，作为广告，这个牌子太大了。它的大小违反了城镇规则。董事会下令移除或更改标志。
Bakery owner Sean Young faced possible fines if he did not follow the order. So, he decided to fight it in court. Young’s legal action accuses the town of Conway of violating his right to free speech, guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution. “They said it would be art elsewhere,” Young told The Associated Press. “It’s just not art here. “The town should not have the right to police art,” he said.
如果面包店老板 Sean Young 不遵守命令，他可能会面临罚款。因此，他决定在法庭上与之抗争。杨的法律诉讼指控康威镇侵犯了美国宪法保障的言论自由权。“他们说这将是其他地方的艺术，”杨告诉美联社。“这里不是艺术。“小镇不应该拥有警察艺术的权利，”他说。
The dispute has the town of 10,000 people debating big questions about creativity and freedom. Conway is in the White Moutains, a popular area with visitors. The town is under pressure to increase business development. Some residents worry that compromises with development interests will lead to unwanted changes to their town. Many, including the zoning board members, liked the students' work. But they said rules must be followed. At about 8.6 square meters, the mural is four times bigger than zoning rules permit for advertising signs. At town meetings, residents discussed how to define a sign. Then, last week, they voted against changes to the rules. The local newspaper said the wording of the proposed changes was not clear. A judge may have to make the final decision on what remains an open debate in town.
这场争论让这个拥有 10,000 人的小镇就创造力和自由的重大问题进行了辩论。康威位于白山地区，这是一个受游客欢迎的地区。该镇面临着增加商业发展的压力。一些居民担心与发展利益妥协会导致他们的城镇发生不必要的变化。许多人，包括分区委员会成员，都喜欢学生们的作品。但他们说必须遵守规则。这幅壁画面积约为 8.6 平方米，比分区规则允许的广告标志大四倍。在镇会议上，居民们讨论了如何定义标志。然后，上周，他们投票反对修改规则。当地报纸称，拟议修改的措辞不明确。法官可能必须就镇上仍然公开辩论的内容做出最终决定。
The lawsuit Young filed in January asks that the court prevent the town from enforcing its sign law. Other businesses have entered into the dispute. Long before the painting over Leavitt’s, Conway had permitted other paintings at a local shopping center. But in December the town found that three of those pictures also violate size limits. The issue went before the zoning board Wednesday. The lawsuit argues that the town’s definition of “sign” is very general and its zoning rules do not include the word “mural.”
Young 在 1 月份提起的诉讼要求法院阻止该镇执行其标志法。其他企业也卷入了纠纷。早在莱维特的画作之前，康威就允许在当地一家购物中心展出其他画作。但在 12 月，该镇发现其中三张图片也违反了尺寸限制。这个问题周三提交给分区委员会。诉讼辩称，该镇对“标志”的定义非常笼统，其分区规则不包括“壁画”一词。
Board member Luigi Bartolomeo said he thinks the painting at the bakery is art, not advertising. “I think it’s a very badly written piece of code here,” said Bartolomeo, who recently retired. But Board Chairperson John Colbath said the board has to work with the rule, which was approved by voters. He argues that the mural would likely be seen as art, and not advertising, if its subject did not represent the products found at Leavitt’s.
董事会成员 Luigi Bartolomeo 说他认为面包店的画是艺术，而不是广告。“我认为这是一段非常糟糕的代码，”最近退休的 Bartolomeo 说。但董事会主席约翰科尔巴斯表示，董事会必须遵守选民批准的规则。他争辩说，如果壁画的主题不代表 Leavitt's 的产品，那么它可能会被视为艺术，而不是广告。
The town and Young agreed in February to suspend all legal action until a vote on a proposed definition. The proposal failed. The judge now wants to hear from both sides by May 10. “We’re ready to keep going,” Young said.
那个镇和扬在二月份同意暂停所有法律行动，直到对拟议的定义进行投票。提案失败了。法官现在希望在 5 月 10 日之前听取双方的意见。“我们准备继续前进，”杨说。
