In Indianapolis, any property owner can paint an artistic mural on their own property without the need for a permit (except for in a designated historic district, where they need to obtain a Certificate of Appropriateness). To be considered artistic, it can't promote any commercial interests: or else it's a sign and needs to be permitted as a sign. 

Julia Moore (mobile)

On Tue, Jul 2, 2019, 6:22 PM Amanda Still (via public_art_network list) <public_art_network@americansforthearts.simplelists.com> wrote:

Hello, Public Art Network,

 

Our City is getting several requests from businesses to paint murals on their buildings, and we are fortunate to have the support of our City Arts and Culture Board as well as the City Planning and Permitting Dept.  However, our legal department does not want to allow businesses to paint murals on their property because of some recent court cases involving freedom of speech.  Legal does not want the City to be in a position where we would be regulating freedom of speech through artwork approval, so Legal is categorizing all murals as signage.  And, of course, a mural does not follow our City’s design guidelines for signage, so they are not approved.  Does this sound like a familiar situation to anyone, and if so, how has your City handled the legal and permitting process for privately owned/funded murals?

 

Thank  you so much for your input!

 

Amanda Still

Arts and Culture Coordinator

City of Georgetown

512-930-8471

arts.georgetown.org

 

 

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