Artist Speech fight turns into fight for Journalists and Bloggers right to gather info

Artist Elevates Chicago in National Debate

Chicago has gone to great lengths to show up on the world stage as a center of culture, the recent lost Olympics bid is only the latest example. Artist, C Drew, is poised to elevate Chicago's position in a national debate over the rights of artists and citizens to live by their speech in public. Ironically, he is presently being prosecuted on a 1^st class felony charge for audio-recording his own arrest while testing Chicago's peddlers license law. What message does this send the world about Chicago's attitude toward artists, art and culture?

The debate is over "what is art" and "who can sell art" in public. It is about the publics use of public land vs the corporate use of public land. The best answer to these two questions upholds everyone's freedoms, our most cherished values of the First Amendment and opens the door for artists and others to become public in America the way they are in other nations (most of whom do not have a First Amendment).

Artists are those among us who polish their voices, their means of self expression, their art, whether that be by oil painting, photography, sculpture, native beading, screen printing, mime, dance or song. We should strive to be more encouraging of our artists to be creative and sell their art in public. Our First Amendment promises us this right. That promise means we should do more than other nations without a First Amendment to encourage artists to be out in public but that is not so today.

In New York City Robert Lederman has led a movement of artists (A.R.T.I.S.T., Artists Responding To Illegal State Tactics) since the early 1990s which has been the dominant force defining an East Coast (2^nd Circuit) response to these questions through the lawsuits brought by them (Bery v. NYC and more). Lederman has sold his art on the streets of New York from a young age. When Mayor Guiliani began a campaign in the early 90's to eliminate street artists in New York City Lederman helped lead the way for artists in the Big Apple.

The Western response (9^th Circuit) is being framed by the work done by Steven White who has sued a series of Cities in Arizona and Nevada to establish a body of case law that differs from the the 2^nd Circuit opinions. Mr. White is an individual artist with a community art heart. He wants to spread art activity like Johnny Appleseed spread Apple seeds.

Mr. White disagrees with the New York approach. In a letter published on the art-act yahoo groups he stresses the importance of the individual artist and honors the personal self-expression as that which is being protected at the highest level of First Amendment protection. He claims the New York model is too heavily weighted toward vending rather than self-expression. His version of the First Amendment would protect the artist doing the creating and stress traditional "Fine Art" forms like oil paintings, photography, sculpture and non-utilitarian objects. He wants to draw a line between commercial activity and art/expression.

In the middle of this is the pending law suit Mr. Drew intends to lodge once he is free from the City's challenge to his freedom, the prosecution of him as a 1^st class felon for audio-recording his own arrest while testing the misdemeanor peddlers license law. The decisions made by the parties to this eminent Chicago lawsuit are sure to add fuel to this debate. The Debate is begins at free-artists@yahoogroups.com even as Mr. Drew is digging himself out from under the legal load the government is placing on him.

Chicago will have a voice in this debate unless Mr. Drew's voice is silenced through some violation of his First Amendment rights by an overzealous Chicago administration. Someone should tell those City Fathers so interested in the world's opinion of them that violating artists' speech rights does not win them praise.

Artist Elevates Chicagoin National Debate

Artist Elevates Chicago
in National Debate