So in the wake of Reed et al v. Gilbert, our city signage ordinance was hastily revised to comply but they are undergoing a more thoughtful re-revision right now.

Here is what our city signage ordinance reads re murals—exempting them from the signage ordinance:

Mural: A design or representation painted, drawn or similarly applied on the exterior surface of a structure and the only text includes the artist's name and date of installation.

Works of art. Three-dimensional works of art (statuary, sculptures) and two-dimensional works of art (i.e., murals) that are clearly artistic in nature and which do not promote commercial interests are exempt from regulation under this Chapter 744 Article IX. An ILP shall not be required if the provisions noted above are satisfied.

You can see that excluding all text from the definition of a mural is problematic (but neatly avoids engaging with the “free speech” issue), and I am meeting with the folks that are rewriting the ordinance in a couple of weeks to talk about it.  

From the state DOT perspective, their policy memo is attached.  To my knowledge there is no movement to revise it.  I don’t think anyone has even reviewed it in the context of the HBA or Reed.

Hope this helps!

Julia Muney Moore
Director of Public Art

Arts Council of Indianapolis
924 N. Pennsylvania St.
Indianapolis, IN  46204
o (317) 631-3301 x240
m (317) 332-8382
e jmoore@indyarts.org