Wade Wharton is a 70-year-old artist living in Huntsville, Alabama who has spent the last 40 years transforming an ordinary urban home into an outsider work of environmental art. In a story worthy of a chapter in a book by Oliver Sacks, Wharton says he became an artist after a stroke in 1974 that changed the way he saw objects. Now the City of Huntsville is telling Wharton that he is in violation of city code and needs to clean up his yard, a kind of outdoor sculpture garden made from recycled materials of glass and metal.
While Wade Wharton’s art garden may not be a masterwork on the scale of most any painting by Frans Hals, this green art space is not junk or detritus. According to the Huntsville, Alabama citation: "it is unlawful to keep or store any inoperable vehicle, auto parts, metals, tree limbs, litter, debris or similar items unless such items are stored in an approved, fully enclosed and covered structure."
From my point of view, the city of Huntsville cannot penalize Wade Wharton’s artwork in the same way they might a negligent neighbor who leaves a car up on blocks in the front yard for months. Wade Wharton’s home and garden have been transformed into a work of art that is protected under The First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Wharton’s next-door neighbors are fans of the eccentric looks of Wharton’s yard, and consider the yard an art exhibition to be a point of pride.
Perhaps Huntsville can negotiate with Wade Wharton to arrive at a compromise so that most parties can co-exist peacefully. What the government of Huntsville, Alabama needs to remember is that art can be used to revitalize communities and not just threaten the property values of urban homeowners.
Check out a small slide show of Wade Wharton’s outdoor artworks here. Read all about it here.
While Wade Wharton’s art garden may not be a masterwork on the scale of most any painting by Frans Hals, this green art space is not junk or detritus. According to the Huntsville, Alabama citation: "it is unlawful to keep or store any inoperable vehicle, auto parts, metals, tree limbs, litter, debris or similar items unless such items are stored in an approved, fully enclosed and covered structure."
From my point of view, the city of Huntsville cannot penalize Wade Wharton’s artwork in the same way they might a negligent neighbor who leaves a car up on blocks in the front yard for months. Wade Wharton’s home and garden have been transformed into a work of art that is protected under The First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Wharton’s next-door neighbors are fans of the eccentric looks of Wharton’s yard, and consider the yard an art exhibition to be a point of pride.
Perhaps Huntsville can negotiate with Wade Wharton to arrive at a compromise so that most parties can co-exist peacefully. What the government of Huntsville, Alabama needs to remember is that art can be used to revitalize communities and not just threaten the property values of urban homeowners.
Check out a small slide show of Wade Wharton’s outdoor artworks here. Read all about it here.
