(Jan. 4, 2023) The word “vote” as written by Thomas Westgård on the street at 7th and Madison streets ( Jan. 4, 2023)
(Jan. 5, 2023) An apparent attempt to wash away the chalk-based compound.
(Jan. 13, 2023) After about 0.75 inches of rain on Jan. 12, 2023 as measured by NWS at Monroe County’s airport.
Text of letter received by Thomas Westgård on Jan. 13, 2023 from the city of Bloomington.
Area resident Thomas Westgård has been fined $500 by Bloomington after writing “VOTE” on a city street.
Westgård sent The B Square a photo of the letter that he reported receiving from the city on Friday.
The letter, signed by Bloomington public works director Adam Wason, states: “On January 4, 2023, at the intersection of Madison and 7th Street in Bloomington, you spray-painted the word ‘VOTE’ in the street.”
The city of Bloomington has now responded to an application submitted in December by Indiana University student Kyle Reynolds for the installation of a mural on Kirkwood Avenue that says “All Lives Matter.”
Excerpt from the traffic management proposal in connection with the application that has been submitted by Kyle Reynolds for his proposed “All Lives Matter” mural.
Based on the city’s response, and the litigation backdropping the request, if Reynolds is eventually allowed to install his mural, it looks somewhat unlikely that it would be on the requested date of April 3, 2023.
It was under a court order that the city’s new policy on private art in the public right-of-way was developed.
That order came in connection with a lawsuit that Reynolds filed, after being denied permission to paint a mural in 2021. The court found that the city’s refusal in 2021 to allow Reynolds to paint his mural likely amounted to viewpoint discrimination, and issued a preliminary injunction.
Thomas Westgård talks with Monroe County clerk Nicole Brown inside Election Central on Jan. 4, 2023.
Thomas Westgård (Jan. 4, 2023).
Thomas Westgård (Jan. 4, 2023).
A Bloomington police officer gets briefed by a Monroe County sheriff’s deputy about
(Jan. 4, 2023) The word “vote” as written by Thomas Westgård on the street at 7th and Madison streets ( Jan. 4, 2023)
Thomas Westgård chats with a Monroe County sheriff’s deputy (Jan. 4, 2023).
Thomas Westgård (Jan. 4, 2023).
Thomas Westgård (Jan. 4, 2023).
(Jan. 4, 2023) Thomas Westgård (Jan. 4, 2023).
Around 9 a.m. on Wednesday morning, Bloomington area resident Thomas Westgård started dolloping a purple compound onto the asphalt at 7th and Madison streets near Monroe County’s Election Central.
After a few minutes, the word “vote” was spelled out in purple on the pavement.
It was a coincidence that Wednesday was also the first day when candidates in Bloomington’s city elections could file their official paperwork.
For Westgård, it was the right time and day to write “vote” on the street, because a status conference was on a federal court calendar for about an hour later, for a case that involves the right of private individuals to install art in Bloomington’s public right-of-way.
In November 2022, the judge issued a preliminary injunction against Bloomington, ordering the city to establish criteria for applications by private individuals to install art in the public right of way.
Middle Way House Wrapped in Love installation 2022: “A place of learning”
Peace symbol sculpture from Freezefest 2022
Under the policy approved by Bloomington’s board of public works at its Tuesday meeting, no public street mural with words and letters could be installed by private parties—if the mural is expected to last longer than a week.
The action by the board was time sensitive.
A federal judge has ordered that by Jan. 2, 2023, Bloomington must develop and disseminate a policy on private art installations in the public right-of-way.
The court’s order came as a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit filed by an Indiana University student, after Bloomington said he could not install a street mural with the phrase “All Lives Matter.”
The “All Lives Matter” slogan is associated with opposition to the “Black Lives Matter” movement.
Under the court order, Bloomington has to allow the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, Kyle Reynolds and the Indiana University Chapter of Turning Point USA, to apply for installation of a mural under the new policy.
Under the new policy, the previously rejected mural might be allowed, but only if it is “temporary art”—which means it would be expected to last longer than seven days.