Artist Persecution Capital of the World
by Robert Lederman
From the ABM Editor
Imagine a brawl on a SoHo sidewalk over the definition of art...
A.R.T.I.S.T. (Artists' Response To Illegal State Tactics) and its president,
Robert Lederman, respond to New York City officials over First Amendment
and economic rights.
The legal skirmish between New York City and its street artists recently
came to an end with a U.S. Supreme Court refusal to hear the City's appeal
of a ruling that barred it from forcing artists to be licenced. The heart
of the problem was that licences are virtually impossible to get, only
853 for "citizens at large" are available and these have been
held for years by the same people. This being the case, stated the ruling,
the City was essentially banning street artists. The court ruled that artists
are to be granted the same status as sidewalk booksellers, sellers whom
City allows to operate without licenses.
A group of street artists A.R.T.I.S.T. (Artists' Response To Illegal
State Tactics) have led the charge against City decisions claiming that
their First Amendment freedoms have been undermined. A.R.T.I.S.T. president,
Robert Lederman, and other group members have been arrested on numerous
occasions for selling their art in SoHo (ironically the City's "traditional"
home for avant-garde artists and art) and for distributing leaflets critical
of City officials. Needless to say, Mr. Lederman is pleased about the court's
decision. Others, such as store owners, are concerned that the sidewalks
will now be lousy with people claiming to be artists selling objects created
outside the U.S. or that are not considered original art -- imagine a brawl
on a NYC street over the definition of art. However, the City has rules
governing where vendors can and cannot sell. For example, Midtown Manhattan
and neighborhoods that are cramped for space are out of bounds for sidewalk
vendors. Bottom line, the City seriously needs to reconsider and redraft
its policies related to sidewalk vendors.
What follows here is an article by Mr. Lederman which clearly expresses
his indignation over the City's abrogation of what he believes is his right
to sell his art on New York City sidewalks.
Welcome to SoHo:
Artist Persecution Capital of the World
by Robert Lederman
SoHo is certainly America's most unusual art district. Unlike other
art communities, SoHo actively persecutes artists and fights against First
Amendment freedom.
SoHo's landlords became rich thanks to artists. Wealth brought the
landlords so much leisure time they can now afford to dedicate their lives
to calling the police about artists exhibiting paintings on the publicly-owned
sidewalk across from their buildings.
Trendy stores that located in SoHo to benefit from it being an artistic
neighborhood complain to the police that artists are, "Distracting
the public from buying our merchandise", and demand that they be forcibly
removed.
Residents who moved into SoHo because they wanted to live in an art
center whine that there are, "just too many artists". That's
like moving to the country and complaining that there are too many trees.
From 1993 until 1996 a pogrom against street artists was undertaken
in SoHo. Hundreds of artists were handcuffed and arrested due to relentless
political manipulation of the police by the SoHo Alliance, a landlord advocacy
group run by City Council Member Kathryn Freed and her CB2 appointee, Sean
Sweeney. Thousands of original works of fine art were illegally confiscated
and destroyed or were disposed of at a monthly N.Y.P.D. forfeiture auction,
yet, not one artists' case was ever brought to trial.
To protect their own and every artists' constitutional rights, members
of A.R.T.I.S.T. were forced to file a number of Federal and State lawsuits
against the City of New York. Art museums, advocacy groups, the ACLU and
world renowned artists eventually joined the street artists in the lawsuit.
Hoping to enlist the Federal government in their vicious campaign to
permanently cleanse New York City of street artists, Council Member Freed
and Sean Sweeney joined the Fifth Avenue Association, the Madison Avenue
Business Improvement District and three of the City's most powerful real
estate groups to file a scathingly worded amicus brief against artists'
rights in Federal Court.
Their brief attempted to deny First Amendment protection to fine art,
specifically, paintings, photographs, sculptures and limited-edition prints.
Ironically, Freed and Sweeney's brief also denied the validity of Constitutional
protection for SoHo's art dealers and gallery owners. Perhaps that's the
reason why they are still trying to keep their brief, filed on 2/28/96,
a secret not only from the public but from their own ever dwindling number
of supporters. It states:
"The sale of artwork does not involve communication of thoughts
or ideas" and warns of, "the dangers...of allowing visual art
full First Amendment protection." It goes on to state, "...An
artists' freedom of expression is not compromised by regulating his ability
to merchandise his artwork....the sale of paintings and other artwork does
not reach this high level of expression (guaranteeing First Amendment protection)..."
[#95-9089]. In a barrage of newspaper articles, hysterical quotes by Freed
and her real estate allies likened street artists to "parasites"
and scapegoated them for everything from litter and prostitution to the
proliferation of communicable diseases.
Luckily for America's artists, Freed and the real estate lobby's misbegotten
views on freedom of expression were completely rejected by the court. On
10/16/96 the street artists won their Federal lawsuit. The 2nd Circuit
Federal Appeals Court ruling unambiguously states:
"Visual art is as wide ranging in its depiction of ideas, concepts
and emotions as any book, treatise, pamphlet or other writing, and is similarly
entitled to full First Amendment protection....the City's requirement that
appellants be licensed in order to sell their artwork in public spaces
constitutes an unconstitutional infringement of their First Amendment rights...Displaying
art on the street has a different expressive purpose than gallery or museum
shows; it reaches people who might not choose to go into a gallery or museum
or who might feel excluded or alienated from these forums. The public display
and sale of artwork is a form of communication between the artist and the
public not possible in the enclosed, separated spaces of galleries and
museums...
Appellants are interested in attracting and communicating with the
man or woman on the street who may never have been to a gallery and indeed
who might never have thought before of possessing a piece of art until
induced to do so on seeing appellants' works. The sidewalks of the City
must be available for appellants to reach their public audience..."
Lederman et al v. City of New York 959089 United States Court of Appeals,
Second Circuit. Argued April 26, 1996. Decided Oct. 10, 1996. For access
to the full text of the ruling see:
[http://www.openair.org/alerts/artist/nyc.html]
Will SoHo's landlords, merchants and gallery owners ever learn to accept
street artists? So far, the persistent (and mostly anonymous) calls to
the First Precinct and Peddler Squad continue. Such unjustified and bigoted
complaints about artists would be an embarrassment in any civilized society,
let alone in the self-proclaimed art capital of the world. It's time for
SoHo to accept that there is a First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
and that it vigorously protects the rights of artists.
Over thousands of years artistic freedom has withstood assaults from
countless dictators, elites and self-righteous censors. As long as there
is a SoHo there will be artists creating, displaying and offering, in freedom,
their creations on its streets.
Artists are SoHo's greatest resource. Artists, not landlords or cast
iron buildings, are what give SoHo its vitality, color and depth. Artists
are what makes SoHo more than just another non-descript shopping mall.
It's time for SoHo to stop vilifying those who butter your bread, sustain
your real estate values and attract the public to your profitable restaurants,
galleries and boutiques: living, breathing, hard-working artists.
For more information on A.R.T.I.S.T. or to express your opinion on
this issue please call: Robert Lederman (212) 334-4327 E-mail ARTISTpres@aol.com
or visit the A.R.T.I.S.T. web site at: http://www.openair.org/alerts/artist/nyc.html
