Tube Dude Mural Will Not Be Removed

 owner Scott Gerber told Patch he will never take down the "Fast Life" mural on his building no matter what the city asks, and in fact, wants to add more murals to his building and the neighborhood. 

Gerber is expected to receive a letter from the City Commission pleading him to take down the at 10th and Central streets. The commission voted 5-0 Tuesday night to send a letter requesting Gerber to remove the piece as soon as possible. 

"Frame the note and put it on the wall," Gerber said about the letter.

When informed by Patch at Tube Dude's Rosemary District plant Wednesday afternoon about what transpired at the meeting, Gerber was visibly angered as he and Chairwoman Denise Kowal were not notified by Commissioner Charles Willie Shaw that he was going to broach the subject at Tuesday's meeting.

"You know why we didn't take it down?" Gerber asked. "Because for every one person that did not like it, maybe a total of five, there were 1,500 people that loved it and wanted it to stay, and we're passionate about wanting it to stay."

Gerber said he's considering a petition to show how many people want the mural to stay, and in reality, the decision is the building's owner since Gerber leases the space. Gerber said the landlord is fine with the mural.

French artist MTO painted the mural for the Sarasota Chalk Festival in November with the message, "It's a Fast Life Let Love Express It" (some may argue it's 'Fat Lie' because of how the fingers are twisted) but neighbors and officials have criticized it for what they see as promoting gang life in a historically black neighborhood even though a gang expert found no gang signs in the piece and the man's hands in the piece are white.

"It's been a big concern to the Central Cocoanut Association and community itself," District 1 Commissioner Charles Willie Shaw said. "Somewhere along the lines and conversation, we have to have something done that's going to remediate and change what we have up on that wall. It has to come down."

Gerber finds flaws with the Central Cocoanut's survey findings. He said one question was biased asking what people thought of the "gang symbols" in the mural. The survey found that that most people in the neighborhood liked the art the least.

Even at that, half of the people surveyed provided positive comments about the mural, according to a bulletin by the association.

Shaw's comments and the commission's action caught Denise Kowal, Chalk Festival event chairwoman, by surprise. She e-mailed Shaw Wednesday requesting an e-mail to explain Gerber's plan for the neighborhood.

Vice Mayor Terry Turner agrees with Shaw.

"I don't know we should be promoting gang-oriented graffiti even on the guise of art," he said. "I think we need to eradicate graffiti wherever we can."

But is it really promoting gangs with the message of letting love express a fast life? Public officials have skirted the issue using words like "connotations" "influence" and "oriented" coupled with gang.

"If it were a gang signal of any type the [police chief] would have been down here the very next day and say 'Take that s--- down it is illegal,'" Gerber said.

Gerber said nobody from the commission has ever talked to him about the mural. That has got to change County Commissioner Carolyn Mason told Patch.

"One thing that mural has done, it has generated a big conversation in the community that I think is healthy,"  Mason said. "I think there should ought to be some kind of roundtable discussions about what it is and why people don't like it or why people like it."

She said it is a must that city commissioners meet with Gerber. Mason added she is a fan of Gerber's plans for more murals to eliminate the industrial feel, but admits she disagrees with the subject of the current mural.

"I agree I have a bias about the subject matter, but I think that can be worked through," she said, adding it could be a generational thing about the tattoo and the way the hand is presented. 

Mayor Suzanne Atwell hesitated acting as an arbitrator in these situations because of First Amendment rights. 

"I will hear from a few people on this," she said.

Still, Atwell said she has concerns with the piece, asking is it art or graffiti, but the city will focus in its letter about choices.

Gerber and Marketing Dude David Griffin are inspired by a customer who visited the shop recently who claimed to be an expert on Constitution issues.

"He said the best way to battle First Amendment issues in terms of speech is to add more speech," Griffin said. "In other words, add more graffiti, maybe do more stuff on our building which is what Scott is saying is not going to happen if you censor what's going on up there."

Gerber told The Art Whisperer in a video interview in December that he wrestled with the idea of taking it down, but then decided to leave it up or perhaps alter the message after learning more about the work and the whole message:

"If there were a vote right now, it would be a survivor for sure."

Just days earlier, he told The Herald-Tribune he would take it down and replace it with another piece of art and would work with the festival organizers to find a replacement:

Gerber said he may pay the cost of the paint and supplies for new wall art if a local artist donates time. He said good can still come out of what became a controversial situation.

"What I think this has done is brought attention to this neighborhood and without attention, nobody is going to see it," Gerber said.

Gerber said at the time he was going to give the community 30 days to see what they thought. 

"Nothing has happened except for more support," he told Patch this week.

Sarasota graphic designer Kyle Cross talked to HUB Sarasota in December defending the piece, too, saying "this piece may cause the community to talk about a topic that exists."

"That there is a division of wealth here. That there are some things in this town aren't great. And maybe we as a community can come together without the media, without the boards, without all the jazzy stuff that you think runs the county.

Maybe just us good hearted people can take a day off of work and come down and think of something they can do." 

If anything, the opposition to the piece has boosted Tube Dudes business, Gerber said. 

"A lot more people know where we're at now," he said.