Unfortunately for the City of Boston, the legendary street artist Shepard Fairey pleaded guilty to three vandalism charges which included a deal that bans him from carrying stickers, posters, wheat paste, brushes, and other tools of the graffiti trade for two years. Ironically, the morning of his arrest, Boston Mayor Mumbles Menino shakes hands with Shepard at the unveiling of his ‘Peace Goddess’ banner that hung on the side of City Hall for months. Banned in Boston is a phrase that became famous during the 1920s when the Puritan Boston officials had the authority to ban works which they deemed to have ‘objectionable’ content. Many publishers actually sought to have their books banned in Boston because they knew the label would increase their sales in the rest of the country. I like to believe that Shepard pulled the wool over the Boston PD’s eyes and carefully crafted his arrest as a marketing strategy.
