Fast food clashes with fine art - Muralist at odds with new tenent's plan to erase work
(by Mark Abramson, Daily News)
A longtime Burlingame muralist is having a hard time swallowing the idea that her fine art could be replaced by fast food logos.
Leona Moriarty's 20-by-40-foot mural on the side of the defunct Towle's Seafood & Spirits restaurant at Burlingame Avenue and Primrose Road could be coming down if the new tenant, Nadal Nazzal, has his way. Nazzal said he plans to replace the mural, which depicts a scene from New Orleans' Bourbon Street, with signs and other decor related to his Burger Joint restaurant, a San Francisco-based fast food chain. "In order for us to open over there, that has to be taken down," Nazzal said. "I can't operate with that mural." Nazzal said Moriarty's work would clash with the look of his business and logos. He said his two landlords assured him when he signed the lease that the mural could come down. He plans to install his signs and logos in March or April, and aims to open sometime in May.
The property owners declined to comment for this story.
Moriarty, who has been an artist for more than 40 years, said she will fight Nazzal's decision and that she is being aided by Oakland attorney M.J. Bogatin, who is working pro bono after the case was referred to him by the nonprofit California Lawyers for the Arts. Bogatin said that under the 1990 federal Visual Artists Rights Act, or VARA, artists can seek up to $150,000 in damages and the right to recover attorney fees. California has had similar laws in place since the mid-1970s, he said. "Imagine how damaging it would be to the reputation of an artist if people could just destroy their imagery willy-nilly," Bogatin said. According to Bogatin, an artist in such cases is entitled to recover damages equal to the value of the work - which in this case he estimated to be $8,000. That amount, however, could be low because Moriarty did the work in 2003 for a nominal fee due to the building's prime downtown location, he said. Moriarty said if the mural is destroyed, she will seek at least $10,000 in damages. Bogatin sent a letter to the owners of the building in early November informing them of Moriarty's rights as an artist but said he has not heard back.
Nazzal argued that the landlords told him he could replace the mural, and his lease with the property owners would make them liable if he is sued for painting over it. "It is in our lease to do what we want to the exterior of that (building)," Nazzal said. Bogatin responded to Nazzal's argument, saying, "Technically the person who is liable is the person who does the removal, but he might have rights under his lease."
Moriarty has options to protect her work, including seeking an injunction to prevent it from being painted over, Bogatin said. "The next step is, we are just waiting for them to do something, and if they do something we have to stop it," Moriarty said.
(by Mark Abramson, Daily News)
A longtime Burlingame muralist is having a hard time swallowing the idea that her fine art could be replaced by fast food logos.
Leona Moriarty's 20-by-40-foot mural on the side of the defunct Towle's Seafood & Spirits restaurant at Burlingame Avenue and Primrose Road could be coming down if the new tenant, Nadal Nazzal, has his way. Nazzal said he plans to replace the mural, which depicts a scene from New Orleans' Bourbon Street, with signs and other decor related to his Burger Joint restaurant, a San Francisco-based fast food chain. "In order for us to open over there, that has to be taken down," Nazzal said. "I can't operate with that mural." Nazzal said Moriarty's work would clash with the look of his business and logos. He said his two landlords assured him when he signed the lease that the mural could come down. He plans to install his signs and logos in March or April, and aims to open sometime in May.
The property owners declined to comment for this story.
Moriarty, who has been an artist for more than 40 years, said she will fight Nazzal's decision and that she is being aided by Oakland attorney M.J. Bogatin, who is working pro bono after the case was referred to him by the nonprofit California Lawyers for the Arts. Bogatin said that under the 1990 federal Visual Artists Rights Act, or VARA, artists can seek up to $150,000 in damages and the right to recover attorney fees. California has had similar laws in place since the mid-1970s, he said. "Imagine how damaging it would be to the reputation of an artist if people could just destroy their imagery willy-nilly," Bogatin said. According to Bogatin, an artist in such cases is entitled to recover damages equal to the value of the work - which in this case he estimated to be $8,000. That amount, however, could be low because Moriarty did the work in 2003 for a nominal fee due to the building's prime downtown location, he said. Moriarty said if the mural is destroyed, she will seek at least $10,000 in damages. Bogatin sent a letter to the owners of the building in early November informing them of Moriarty's rights as an artist but said he has not heard back.
Nazzal argued that the landlords told him he could replace the mural, and his lease with the property owners would make them liable if he is sued for painting over it. "It is in our lease to do what we want to the exterior of that (building)," Nazzal said. Bogatin responded to Nazzal's argument, saying, "Technically the person who is liable is the person who does the removal, but he might have rights under his lease."
Moriarty has options to protect her work, including seeking an injunction to prevent it from being painted over, Bogatin said. "The next step is, we are just waiting for them to do something, and if they do something we have to stop it," Moriarty said.
- Written by Fiona
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