LYNN — Four months after a world class painter turned a brick building in the downtown into a work of art, the landlord put a restaurant sign over it.
On Thursday, the city’s Inspectional Services Department issued a warning to Thuydiem Le, the owner of 18-22 Munroe St., for failing to have a sign permit.
“You wouldn’t place an ad on a piece of art in a museum, why do it on a mural?” said FONKi, the Montreal artist who spent two weeks as part of the Beyond Walls Mural Festival, creating the 1,708-square-foot mural. “It should come down.”
He may get his wish.
Clint Muche, the city’s deputy building commissioner, said the sign must go.
“The landlord lacks a permit and we certainly don’t like the location,” he said.
This week, Le allowed the Las Vegas Bar & Restaurant sign to be erected on the work of art on her building. The 12-by-4-foot sign shouts “Live entertainment and karaoke.”
While the woman in the painting draped in a white sheet overlooking the community garden is not hidden by the sign, splashes of tan paint near her are marred by the marquee.
Alfred Wilson, founder of Beyond Walls, the 10-day mural festival which featured 20 international and local artists, said he had an agreement with the installer to place the sign discreetly in the upper left.
“But they put it where they did because the ladder didn’t reach high enough,” he said.
Still, the landlord blames the artist for the confusion.
“The sign was up there already before the mural was started,” said Le. “It was taken down temporarily to make way for the mural. But there was an agreement between the project and the restaurant owner that the sign would go back where it was, so the artist should have known.”
Le acknowledges it doesn’t look good.
“But that’s the way it’s going to stay,” she said.
Muche said the problem is complicated by the fact that Le failed to get a permit. If the sign does not come down by Monday, the fine will start at $50 and increase to $300 by the fourth day.
Le said she was unaware of need for a permit.
It’s unclear why the sign is needed. Munroe Street is one-way and the restaurant’s sign is facing the opposite direction of traffic.
An art student and visitor to Lynn who was taking a photograph of the mural, said the sign ruins a delicate work of art.
“Why would someone mar a gorgeous painting with a restaurant sign that few can see?” said Michele Hoffman. “For that reason alone I wouldn’t eat there.”
