Orval Jackson
the Tampa Tribune
March 21, 1998

YBOR CITY - Special paintings promoting the musical "Rent" will hang from Ybor City balconies.

Ten paintings by artists depicting their interpretation of various emotions in the Broadway musical "Rent" are not banners if they don't include written advertisements.

So says the Barrio Latino Commission.

A city ordinance bans hanging advertising banners in historic Ybor City without approval of the commission.

However, in a joint effort by the Ybor City Chamber of Commerce and the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, 10 artists will paint their interpretations of emotions today on 6-by-8-foot vinyl canvases at Centro Espanol Plaza on Seventh Avenue.

Annette DeLisle, executive director of the Ybor Chamber, sought permission from the commission this week to hang the artworks on balconies along Seventh Avenue for seven days.

She says the paintings will then be taken to the Performing Arts Center where they will be on display during the April 8-19 run of the musical about Bohemian life in New York City's East Village.

DeLisle says the paintings may become a traveling exhibit for the musical.

Although commission members favor prohibiting all banners, administrator Del Acosta said a legal interpretation of the ordinance indicated as long as nothing is written on the canvases, they are not banners.

"You mean you could paint a beer mug on a canvas and hang it over a bar?" asked chairman Steve Parker, who also questioned the city's own use of advertising banners. "If we allow that, we must allow businesses to do so for a limited time. We need to make it fair for everyone."