The city forced a bar owner to paint over a mural. Then he got a check for putting another four blocks away

WILMINGTON – After years of fighting with the city that turned into a lawsuit over a mural, a business owner in downtown Wilmington received a check this month for another mural four blocks away.

Joe Apkarian previously sued the city of Wilmington in court after being told that the mural on his excavated stairwell in Pour House, a basement bar on the corner of Front and Market Streets, was against the city’s historical code.

This month he received a check for $ 2,500 for a mural in Tacobaby he co-owns, a 5-minute walk from Pour House.

“The humor has not escaped me,” he said on Tuesday.

The artist Nathan Verwey painted the mural on the Tacobaby shop window in the summer. The company also selected Verwey for its interior wall art, a neon rendering of its logo. Verwey is known across town for his works, including the portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. covering the side of a building on Princess Street. The inspiration for the mural at Tacobaby was a collaborative effort between Apkarian, the artist and design team, the business owner said. He knew from the jump that they wanted to grab the attention of passers-by and fit in with the theme of the restaurant.

“I think it started to go like, ‘Hey, what if we did something like a reinterpretation for Rosie the Riveter?’ and ‘Oh, let’s add some sunglasses,’ ”Apkarian recalled. Then they started experimenting with the weird sound effect: Snap? Crunch? Then finally: “‘Well, why don’t we do’ Baby? ‘”

The end result is a Rosie-esque blonde with red lips and pink sunglasses. An imitation of a comic book onomatopoeia – “Baby!” – is printed next to it in yellow with a multi-colored background.

A representative from Wilmington Downtown, Inc. came into the store after it was closed to inquire about funding for part of the project under the organization’s Facade Improvement Grant Program. The initiative helps offset the cost of storefront upgrades in the downtown central business district. After a hiatus in the annual program last year due to Covid-19, WDI is providing $ 15,000 this fiscal year for the program, which so far has been spread across five companies.

“That was WDI that came up to me and said, ‘Hey, I really like what you did there. We want to give you money, ”said Apkarian. “I thought, ‘Okay’.”

Christina Haley, vice president of marketing and business outreach at WDI, said she visited companies.

“I wanted to reach out to them to let them know that we have this program that could help them support this work,” she said. “Both in the maintenance of this facade and in the new signage created by your work of art.”

Ironically, WDI is receiving funding from the city – the same city that caused Apkarian to drop around $ 15,000 in court bills for viewing his mural in the Pour House as a “sign” requiring a certificate of adequacy. Even with the certificate, the “mark” was not allowed to exceed 50 square meters.

WDI President Holly Childs made it clear that the nonprofit is not taking a stance on integrating public art in the inner city, but instead is helping small businesses improve their facade.

The city hires WDI to provide services for the 70-block city district. Properties within the district pay an additional 7 cent tax that generates estimated sales of more than $ 375,000 each year.

Despite his problems with the first mural at the Pour House, Apkarian hinted that he didn’t hesitate to follow the art across Taco Baby’s door. Because, in contrast to its underground bar, the hip taco shop is outside the boundaries of the local old town.

“That’s the line between where I can do this and nobody bothers me and gets paid for it,” Apkarian said, “as opposed to… you have a Historic Preservation Commission that will come and tell you what you can and can’t do . “

The part of town known as the Downtown Commercial Historic District Overlay consists of buildings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries and calls for stricter design review; In order to cover a wall with art, a company must obtain approval from the city’s heritage preservation commission. The overlay is within the boundaries of Princess, 3rd and Orange Streets.

The “I Believe in Wilmington” art on Second Street – attached to the building and framed by financial sponsor plaques – is just steps outside the border, at the intersection of Princess Street. Artist Ryan Capron’s work was hung in 2018 by Billy Mellon, the owner of Manna and Bourgie Nights nearby. This year, Mellon told Port City Daily that he had researched the allowable signage within the city ordinances and put the piece in a frame to be on the safe side.

The mural of Pour House, painted by Australian artist Steen Jones, was in operation for a year when the first infringement letter was received in the summer of 2020 when the shut-down bar is living at the beginning of Covid-19 and the orders of the executives to be at home to stay. Pour House was closed for more than 10 months.

To this day, Apkarian does not know if a complaint was actually filed or if it was just the Historic Preservation Commission that conducted a tour and “decided to pursue a store that was forcibly closed”. The stairwell was dug a few years ago and in and of itself not historic.

After unsuccessful hearings with the Historical Preservation Commission and the City of Wilmington Board of Adjustment, Apkarian said he filed a lawsuit that was brought to arbitration. As part of the settlement, Pour House had to cover one of the three sides of the stairwell.

Apkarian said he asked the city how they prefer to get rid of the mural on a wall.

“They said, ‘Oh, we don’t care. Paint it red, ”said Apkarian. “So I literally covered world-class artwork for a red wall.”

Small lines

Murals have been a point of contention among artists and business owners in the city for some time, but Wilmington is taking steps to become more mural-friendly. It recently revised its land development code, which includes regulations for signage and public art. The updated regulation will come into force in December this year. Under the new code, murals of unlimited square footage are allowed on Castle Street (from the river to Wrightsville Avenue) and North Fourth Street (from the Red Cross to Nixon Street) – the area known as the Brooklyn Arts District.

“We’re already seeing some murals there and we’re interested in placing murals,” said Kathryn Thurston, city zone manager, “and they’re outside of the locally designated Historic District so they’re not subject to any design review by the Historic Preservation Commission. So they seemed like good areas for mural pilot projects. “

According to the Code, an owner who is in the central business district (like Tacobaby) and outside the historic district overlay can put a sign on any facade up to 20% of the wall it is attached to, at most 200 square meters.

The new LDC is doing little to avoid a situation similar to Pour House. It still classifies murals as a type of sign that has the same size restrictions as other signs in the boroughs. However, as Apkarian walks through the city center, he notices numerous blank canvases.

“How cool would it be for people to say, ‘Yo, have you been to Wilmington? Have you seen the artwork? ‘ Like being able to walk around and see amazing art? ”He said. “There are amazing artists in this city. There is amazing tattoo artwork in this city. There is a vibrant art scene here. Why don’t we emphasize that? Shows that? Throw that on some walls. “

Muralist Rob Fogle said he eyed the side of a downtown parking deck as a blank canvas but hasn’t touched downtown with a paintbrush since being instructed to remove a mural in the Brooklyn Arts District the day after it was painted. Fogle said he would agree that older buildings in Wilmington need to be preserved, but there are “other buildings that can certainly be painted and would benefit”.

In the meantime he has created a homage to the Fort Fisher Hermit behind The Last Resort in Carolina Beach and a shop front with pirate motifs for Flaming Amy’s.

With support from public officials, Carolina Beach now has a mural project to promote art installations across the island that showcase and tell the story of the city. It just installed its seventh time last week, “Indigenous Fly Feaster”, by local artist Tiffany “Nugget” Machler.

Apkarian believes the Carolina Beach projects show Wilmington “misses” it, while the beach town like Raleigh, Charlotte and Charleston includes public art.

“Every wall down here should have artwork. Every brick room should have living works of art, ”Apkarian said. “This is what thriving downtown arts and entertainment districts look like across the country. Except here. “

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