Page 4 - John Colbath News Today

The mural above Leavitt’s Country Bakery shows the sun shining over mountains made of chocolate and strawberry donuts, a cinnamon roll and a blueberry muffin....

A mural on the wall of a roadside bakery in Conway, New Hampshire, has sparked a debate. A town zoning board has asked the bakery to remove the student-drawn mural.

The mural above Leavitt’s Country Bakery shows the sun shining over mountains made of chocolate and strawberry donuts, a cinnamon roll and a blueberry muffin....

The mural above Leavitt’s Country Bakery shows the sun shining over mountains made of chocolate and strawberry donuts, a cinnamon roll and a blueberry muffin....

A bakery owner Sean Young is suing the city after the zoning board decided that his pastry painting outside his shop was not so much art as advertising, and so could not remain as is because of its size. Faced with modifying or removing the mural, or possibly dealing with fines and criminal charges, Young sued, saying the town is violating his freedom of speech rights.

Where is the line between art, and advertising? The unresolved question is testing the direct democracy of a small New England town, where a painting of pastries has led to zoning dispute, a First Amendment lawsuit and a local vote.

The case, over whether a student-drawn mural is advertising, could define the legal limit between art and advertising in the U.S.

CONWAY, N.H. (AP) — Bakery owner Sean Young was thrilled when high school art students covered the big blank wall over his doorway last spring with a painting of the sun shining over a mountain range made of sprinkle-covered chocolate and strawberry donuts, a blueberry muffin, a cinnamon roll and other pastries.

At about 90 square feet, an outdoor mural painted by high school art students is 4 times bigger than the town sign code allows.

In a small New Hampshire tourist town, the front of a roadside bakery is adorned with an image of the sun rising over a row of doughnuts, muffins and other pastries.