EDITORrnihomas FlemingrnKIANAGING EDl’lORrnTheodore PappasrnSENIOR EDITOR. UOOKSrnChilton Williamson, jr.rnEDI rORIAL ASSISTANTrnMichael WashburnrnART DIRECTORrnAnna Mycek-WodeckirnCONTRIBUTING EDII ORSrnHarold O./. Brou7i, Katherine Dalton,rnSamuel Francis, George Garrett,rnE. Christian Kopff, Clyde WilsonrnCORRESPONDING Ei:)I TORSrnBill Kauffman, Jacob Neusner,rnJohn Shelton Reed, Momcilo SeUcrnEDITORIAESECRE’IARYrnLeann DobbsrnPUBLISHERrnAllan C. CarlsonrnPUBLICATION DIRE,GrGRrnGuy C. ReffettrnPRODUCTION SECRETARYrnAnita CandyrnCIRCULAI’ION MANAGERrnRochelle FrankrnA publication of The Rockford Instihitc.rnEditorial and Advertising ()Ifiees:rn934 North Main Street, Rockford. IE 61 lOi.rnEditorial Phone; (81S) %4-S054.rnAdvertising Phone; (SIS) 964-5811.rnSubscription Department; P.O. Box 800,rnMount Morris. IE 61054. Call 1-800-877-5459.rnEbr infonnation on advertising in Chronicles,rnplease call Rochelle Ehink at (815) 964-5811.rnU.S.A. Newsstand Distribution b Eastern Nev’srnDistributors. Inc.. 1 HO Cleveland Road,rnSandusky,Oil 44870.rnCopyright © 1995 by The Rockford Institute.rnAll rights reserved.rnChmiudes (ISSN 0887-5751) is pnblisiicdrnmonthly for $59.00 per vear bv The RockfordrnIirstitute. 934 North Main Street, Rockford,rnIE 61105-7061. Second-class postage paidrnat Rockford, IE and additional mailing offices.rnPOSTMASTER; Send address changes tornChronicles, P.O. Box 800. Mount Morris,rnIE 61054.rnThe views expressed in Chronicles are thernauthors’ alone and do not necessarily reflectrnthe views of The R(x,’kford Institute or of itsrndirectors. Unsolicited manuscripts cannot bernreturned unless acconrpanied bv a self-addressedrnstamped envelope.rnChroniclesrnVol 19. No. 1] November 199SrnPtiiifLJiiittict’nikxI.Sf.iloolAiiKTic.irnPOLEMICS & EXCHANGESrnOn Art FelonsrnIn 1994, a crackdown by New York Cityrnpolice on illegal street peddling on Soho’srnnarrow, crowded sidewalks resultedrnin sellers of paintings and photographsrnbeing hauled in by the dragnet. Sincernthe Soho Alliance, a volunteer communityrngroup, draws its members hom thernartist residents of Soho, wc felt a need tornfind a soluti(3n that would keep our sidewalksrnpassable and free, yet allow somernvenue for people to sell their handmadernmerchandise without fear of beingrnissued a violation by the police. CityrnCouncil hearings were held last year byrncouncil member Kathryn Freed to findrnsuch a solution. Members of the SohornAlliance worked hard at securing publicrnparkspace, city-owned sites, and nonprofitrncooperative galleries where thernstreet people could sell their works.rnUnfortunately for both the street artrndealers and Soho residents, these effortsrnwere derailed by one megalomaniacrnvendor, Robert Lederman, who formedrna committee of one, crowned himselfrnits president, and claimed to representrnthe street people. He mounted a smearrncampaign against council member Freedrnand the Soho Alliance, who were the onlyrnpeople wt)rking for an equitable solutionrnto the arrest of sidewalk art dealersrnand the confiscation of their works. Thernarticle in the August issue of Chroniclesrnwas part of that campaign. Notice thatrnthe writer, Ann Sandhorst, in her puffrnpiece on Lederman, failed to disclose thernfact that she is Mr. Lederman’s girlfriendrnand business colleague, hardly anrnobjective journalist.rnLederman, in an attempt to rise fromrnobscurity and garner donations for himself,rninitiated a lawsuit against New YorkrnCity, claiming that First Amendmentrnguarantees of free speech included hisrnbeing able to peddle artistic merchandisernon crowded public sidewalks withoutrnthe required street-vending licensesrnor the collection of city sales tax.rnPresented with this anarchic approachrnto a serious jjublic safety question, federalrnjudge Miriam Ccdarbaum recognizedrnthe inherent problems in unregulatedrnstreet art sales. She agreed that the FirstrnAmendment guaranteed the right ofrnartistic free expression and the publicrndisplay of art. She also agreed that thernFirst Amendment may protect the unlicensedrnsale of art that has a clear andrnovert political message. However, whenrnit came to the question of unlicensedrnand unregulated sale of nondescriptrnpaintings and photos on public sidewalksrnand private buildings, Judge Cedarbaumrnclearly was unreceptivc to the street artrndealers’ arguments for First Amendmentrnprotections. “Because some aspects ofrnart arc protected soirie of the time by thernFirst Amendment, it does not mean thatrnall aspects of art are protected all of therntime,” she declared. The judge indicatedrnthat she considered undistinguishedrnprints and paintings as general merchandise,rnto be regulated as such. Smearingrnoil on canvas does not make one anrnartist. A certain amount of professionalrnskill, training, knowledge, education,rnpeer recognition, and creativity arernthe standard hallmarks in determiningrnartistic talent. There are an estimatedrn100,000 artists m New York. Do all ofrnthem have the right to peddle in front ofrnmy home without regulation?rnA written decision from the judge isrnexpected soon. However, any attempt tornfind a just solution to the problem isrnstalled, due to the fact that any legislationrnwhich seeks to find a suitable locationrnfor the artists to sell from legally hasrnbeen blocked until this frivolous lawsuitrnof Lcderman’s is concluded, since therncity is a party to it. Everyone’s hands arerntied by his selfish legal maneuvering.rnIn the meantinre, the judge has saidrnLederman is no longer subject to arrestrnwhile his suit is being adjudicated. ButrnLederman encourages other artists tornsell on the street, knowing full well thatrnthey will be arrested and that their artworkrnwill be confiscated, while he remainsrnsafe from arrest and prosecution.rnThus he acquires further publicity andrndonations, while cynically sacrificingrnartists as cannon fodder for his own ambitions.rnIt is no wonder that he was characterizedrnin a recent New York magazinernarticle as a “looney, a wacko . . . sufferingrnfrom a persecution complex.”rn—Sean SweeneyrnDirector, Soho AlliancernNew York, NYrn4/CHRONICLESrnrnrn