Orwellian Art Police Crack Down on Mandan Mural (Commentary)

Apparently the city of Mandan has nothing better to do with its time.

The city is ordering a local business to remove a mural from in front of its store. As the Bismarck Tribune reports, the city's Architectural review Committee has told the Many Visions apparel store that its mural's gotta go because it lacks the proper paperwork.

The mural (pictured above) was already nearly completed by the time owner Bobby Cochran got around to applying for a permit. He says he wasn't aware of the city's regulations regarding murals.

The Tribune says the Mandan Architectural Review Committee denied Mr. Cochran’s application, citing "aesthetic" concerns, specifiically "zoning regulations surrounding downtown design related to aesthetic harmony with adjacent structures."

Mandan Mayor Tim Helbling weighed in with this somewhat Orwellian comment: “I think art has a place but the city needs to define the place that it should be in.” 

Score Bureaucracy 1, Freedom of Artistic Expression 0.

[Source: Bismarck Tribune, Many Visions Facebook page]