Clean Art Scrubbed Clean

Savannah's mural-covered "Bull Shack" faces permitting issue, potential whitewashing.

[The “Queen of Tejano Music” Selena, who was slain in 1995, is currently depicted on the Bull Shack Photo Credit Rob Hessler/for the Hostess City Saint]

For the past several years, the “Bull Shack,” a small cinderblock building at the center of a vacant lot on the northeast corner of the 1600 block of Bull Street, has hosted an ever-changing array of murals and art installations done by some of the city’s most exciting creatives. If the Historic Site and Monument Commission (HSMC) doesn’t approve it’s artistic use at a hearing on November 7th, however, the outdoor venue may become just another series of blank walls, painted over to comply with city regulations.

“When I first saw the citation, it was just on the ground, laying there,” said the Bull Shack’s owner Beth Vantosh, who has been inviting artists to use her building as their metaphorical canvas since 2019. “It hasn’t ever been a solid color, that’s the funny thing. When it was a car wash, it had stripes across it.”

Reaching out to the Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC) about the ticket, Vantosh was told that she had two choices: Either paint over it; or fill out the required paperwork to have her case heard at the HSMC. And if she refused, Vantosh said, she was told that she would be sued, and she “would have to talk to a judge.”

“I was just irritated [when I learned of the complaint],” she said, which was dated May 17th, 2024. “Because it’s been used for the last five years as this revolving art piece. It’s not like it’s a business. It’s just this random shack.”

“It’s changed a lot,” Vantosh went on to say. “It’s had different variations. And no one has ever said anything to me about it.”

“We’re not preserving the beauty of Savannah”

There was one person who had something to say about it, however: Ardis Wood, who brought the lack of the proper permitting to the attention of city officials through their 311 system. Wood, a resident of Ardsley Park, is a onetime board member of Scenic America, and one of the founders of Chatham County’s branch of the organization.

For the longtime activist, however, it’s not about whether the mural is good (she professes to like it) or that she’d oppose it when it goes before the HSMC (she says she won’t), but, rather, that enforcement of the laws currently on the books is an important way for Savannah to protect it’s visual environment.

“Did it go through the proper channels?” She asked rhetorically. “Because if it doesn’t, things will start to go up everywhere. If they do, if there’s no sense of some review, and it affects the public realm, then we’re destined to go where I think we don’t want to go.”

Wood noted that throughout the city there are numerous regulations that go unenforced, from the way that digital signs are allowed to operate, to where sandwich boards are displayed, to the placement of so-called “bandit signs” on public property.

“In other words, we’re not preserving the beauty of Savannah,” she said.

The Starland (Arts?) District

The question becomes, however, who and what defines beauty in Savannah? And is there a place for a loosening of regulations in a specific area, the Starland District, perhaps, in conjunction with the creation of a formal arts district?

[Fashion designer Carolina Sarria covered the Bull Shack with posters relating to her trade Courtesy Beth Vantosh]

The “look” of the area south of Forsyth Park has certainly diverged from the style prevalent in the Landmark Historic District, and it might make sense to make such a distinction more formally, says ARTS Southeast/Sulfur Studio co-founder, and the Bull Shack’s predominant curator, Alexis Javier “AJ” Perez.

“The Starland District [was] a dangerous area at on point, and it wasn’t peppered with restaurants and bars and retail shops,” he noted. “It has been the arts district for some time in a way, so it seems like a natural progression for what’s been happening.”

In speaking about the situation surrounding the Bull Shack, his cohort at ARTS Southeast, Emily Earl, who serves as the organization’s Executive Director, echoed Perez’s sentiments regarding the changes that she’s seen in the area. As head of the largest private arts organization in the city, she has a vested interest in seeing the arts flourish and spread, but she also believes that giving artists the opportunity to showcase their talents in public has benefits beyond just creative expression.

“If done correctly…it could enliven and enrich neighborhoods,” she opined. “It could be a draw for visitors who may be coming to Savannah, not for ghosts and drinking in the street, but for people who want to learn about our history, architecture, and vibrant local art scene, which would help support local businesses in those neighborhoods. It really could be a huge economic boost across the board, for so many different types of people.”

Wood herself wouldn’t necessarily be opposed to such a move, despite her call in to 311. She’d just want to be sure that the local stakeholders are brought to the table should such an arts district be considered, and that, like Earl, it be done with care and consideration.

“If you want to [create an arts district], I would query the residents, the business owners, the renters, the neighborhood association,” she said. “You can’t just have, ‘You can do whatever.’ You have to look at the options, and also what the people want who work and own and live there.”

“I know that art is a hard thing to make a living at, so there’s a natural desire to not only make a living, but to express yourself,” she added. “It’s wonderful to be an artist, and you want to have as many opportunities to showcase as possible. But the question is, do you want to be showcased where people live and work and, if so, what parameters do you want?”

Clean Art Scrubbed Clean

“The art has always been clean: No nudity, no racism, no profanity, no politics or religion,” noted Adolfo Alvarado, known in the graffiti world as inope, who was one of the artists who created the mural that currently covers the walls of the Bull Shack. “We put in our own supplies, time, and don’t get paid because we enjoy doing it. It’s one of the only spots close to downtown where we can rotate art on an outdoor space like that.”

[Colorful flowers and positive messages cover what was once the flaking paint and decaying wood of the Bull Shack Photo Credit Rob Hessler/for the Hostess City Saint]

Amongst underground art lovers, Alvarado is a Savannah street art legend, and it’s hard for him to conceive any sort of opposition to the work he created for the building. For he and many other artists like him, there is a belief that getting permission from the property owner should be enough to be able to execute their vision. In many ways it feels like the Bull Shack case is a referendum on a mural policy that, when it officially became law in 2013, felt innovative, but now, with the explosion of the art scene in the Starland District, feels outdated. At the November 7th HSMC hearing, discussion on what will become of Vantosh’s cinderblock construction will be the focus. But perhaps it’s time for a bigger conversation to take place, one about a possible official arts district in a city full of artists.

“I was in high school in the 80s, and we used to take over buildings and have killer art shows and bands play and stuff like that,” Vantosh related. "You can’t do that anymore. Everything is just so freaking hard to do something cool, to express yourself. It’s so irritating. And it shouldn’t be that way.”

Those interested in voicing their opinions on the fate of the Bull Shack may do so by emailing Jonathan Mellon at the Metropolitan Planning Commission at mellonj@thempc.org. More information about the November 7th HSMC hearing, which is open to the public and will take place at 4:00 p.m. at 112 E. State Street, can be found at https://www.thempc.org/Board/Sm#gsc.tab=0.