Town creates public art ordinance after free speech debate over doughnut mural

By KATHY McCORMACK
Associated Press

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Voters in a New Hampshire town have passed an ordinance addressing what local officials call “a path forward” for the installation of murals and other public artwork. But a lawyer for a bakery owner in a First Amendment dispute with the town over a pastry painting fear it could result in more litigation. The measure passed  in Conway on Tuesday sets criteria for public art “with no intrusion into the artistic expression or the content of work.” But the bakery owner’s lawyer says it makes the planning board the “speech police.” Last year, the town said the bakery’s painting of mountain-like pastries wasn’t so much art as advertising, was too big, and had to come down.