Front Page > Issues > 2004> June

Don't be gagged by the sign code!

By Joanne Oleksiak

Guerilla Artists Group (or GAG) is engaged in an intractable struggle with those who would deprive the public of creative free speech. That means no public art, baby! CLEAR CHANNEL, that jolly billboard gorilla, has bullied the City that Works into outlawing all outside expression. YES! That means all outside expression! No, wait!

I lied! The sign code gives you one square foot of expression for your house without a sign permit! One very generous square foot!

So do you have a permit for that lawn ornament? No? Then you’re an outlaw, a guerilla artist! All outside expression over one square foot (except a temporary lawn sign) requires a sign permit.

Clear Channel is also being very generous. They’ve offered three billboards for graffiti artists to “exercise their First Amendment rights”. Remember Clear Channel? They’re owed one million dollars by the City that Works because Public Art wasn’t regulated like billboards. Well they’re all signs now! Thank you Clear Channel! and of course we can trust a gorilla like Clear Channel to decide whose art we will, or won’t see.

So be a guerilla artist not a gorilla artist. EXPRESS YOURSELF! Display that lawn ornament, hang that mask by your front door, paint that mural on your building, decorate your walls, your doors, your yard. EXERCISE YOUR FREE SPEECH RIGHTS! They can’t stop everybody, can they? Don’t be gagged by the sign code!

Oh! One more thing! The Mayor’s Public Art Proposal? If you like Kafka, you’ll love this thing. Stay tuned!

Brought to you by GAG (Pssssst! Pass it on!)

What’s next for Portland’s murals?

A draft proposal from Mayor Katz is expected to be available sometime in the next month or so for public review. Slight changes in the city’s sign and zoning codes will be suggested, and Oregon law requires that public hearings be held to solicit public opinion. There will be at least two opportunities for public comment one for each code, Title 32 and 33.

For more information, call Metro Murals @ 503/516-6173 or visit
metromurals.org