As of today, the mural is still in place. They also filed a restraining order against the removal of the mural to which the town has agreed. On January 31, Young and the Institute for Justice officially filed a lawsuit against the town of Conway. “Hopefully it will create some good change in the town and more positivity between the town board and everybody who lives here, because right now the relationships are pretty strained.”Īt the end of 2022, the mural still remained on Leavitt’s Country Bakery, and the town office told Young that he could face criminal charges and fines if he did not paint over the work by February 2. “I think it sets a good example for all the people in town who have had their rights trampled on,” said Young. The nonprofit organization defines itself as a “national law firm for liberty and a prominent defender of economic liberty and First Amendment rights for individuals, entrepreneurs, and businesses - especially small businesses,” and has a record of fighting small towns on similar bureaucratic oversteps. Young hired a local lawyer in October, but soon, the Institute for Justice reached out and took on his case, which Young said was the only way he would have been able to financially continue his legal fight. (It’s not the first time that Conway has enforced its strict sign ordinance: It recently ordered the nearby Settler’s Green outlet mall to remove its murals on similar grounds.) In September, Young and a large group of community members (including Benish) advocated for the mural at another zoning board meeting, but the town office again kept the order in place. He attended Conway’s August zoning board meeting, but despite citizens’ vocal outcry, the town office upheld its decision.
Young posted about the incident on social media and attracted droves of local supporters. “At first I was really upset about them telling me to paint over it because it was a great thing for the kids,” Young told Hyperallergic.
#By the way bakery code
Only nine days after it was completed, however, Conway’s code enforcer told Young that the mural needed to be removed. The project took five weeks to paint and was finished in June 2021. against the backdrop of a sunny sky, a nod to Conway’s location near New Hampshire’s White Mountains. A few months later, the students painted a mountainscape comprised of pastries - doughnuts, muffins, cookies, etc. Benish was searching for a community art project for her students, and Young agreed to let the class paint a mural on the front facade of his new business.
Early last year, a friend connected Young with local Kennett High School art teacher Olivia Benish. In 2021, Young bought Leavitt’s Country Bakery, a nearly 50-year-old local institution. Owner Sean Young of Leavitt’s Country Bakery and the Institute for Justice, a libertarian nonprofit public interest law firm, are suing the town of Conway for a symbolic $1 after the zoning board ordered the mural be removed because it depicts goods sold within the shop, and therefore qualifies as an illegally large sign. In the small town of Conway, New Hampshire, a local bakery’s mural depicting pastries - painted by a high school art class - has spawned a conversation about government censorship of art and First Amendment rights.
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