White v. City of Sparks

BETTY B. FLETCHER, Circuit Judge:

This appeal presents the question of what protection the First Amendment extends to the sale by an artist of his paintings. We hold that an artist’s sale of his original artwork constitutes speech protected under the First Amendment.

I

Appellee Steven C. White (“White”) is an itinerant artist who earns a living by setting up an easel on a city’s sidewalks and in parks and selling his paintings to passersby who take an interest in his work. A painter of nature scenes, White believes his paintings convey, among other messages, the message that human beings are…