HOUSTON – It’s hard to miss Houston’s “Be Someone” mural, but it didn’t appear over I-45 until 2012, and since then, the big blue letters have become one of the city’s most recognizable (and most tampered with) sights.
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According to KPRC 2 viewers, via a poll, nearly 74% of Houston residents believe the “Be Someone” mural should be protected, while a little less than 20% view it as graffiti (a crime).
With a criminal investigation by the Houston Police Department and Union Pacific underway, its moral integrity has been brought into the spotlight. Art philosophy experts like retired University of Houston professor Cynthia Freeland suggest the public sentiment is powerful, but the legal reality is harder to overcome.
“It’s a contested space,” she said frankly. “I think when you have things that people put in a contest in space, there’s going to be disagreements about it, no matter how good it is...the owner of the space, I think, gets the say on what to do about it.”
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Ownership of the space by Union Pacific, Dr. Freeland continued, ultimately outweighs questions of artistic merit, meaning the mural’s fate will likely be decided not by its popularity, but by who controls the bridge.
“When you get to the legal territory, and you have a lot of people writing briefs for the judges, the judges aren’t necessarily going to be trained in art theory or art appreciation or art history,” she explained. “And so the judges are going to decide less on the grounds of artistic merit or popular appeal and more on the just simply on the grounds of ownership."
In her book, “But is it Art?: An Introduction to Art Theory,” Dr. Freeland explains why innovation and controversy are so highly valued in art. However, the line gets sort of blurred when it comes to the “Be Someone” landmark.
“Graffiti is harder to defend on the charge of art, artiness, or artfulness,” Dr. Freeland explained. “I’m trying to just react to the way things look, as not as a philosophy professor, but as an amateur, you think of the George Floyd murals and the other beautiful murals downtown that often have flowers or birds or something, and they’re more clearly artful, and so it’s a little easier to differentiate them from graffiti.”
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In other words, it’s not like if Banksy made it, we could have a different opinion on the “Be Someone” piece, especially since it’s not in a public space.
“Graffiti can be artfully done, of course, and lots of design to the way the letters look,” she continued. “You’re going to try to draw a distinction, which is very hard to do between graffiti and art on public spaces; murals would seem to me to have a stronger chance.”
So what does that mean going forward for “Be Someone”? Considering investigators say the work caused nearly $10,000 in damages, Dr. Freeland has reason to believe it may not stick around another 13 years.
...Or will it?
“Sounds to me as though it’s gonna be painted over, it’s going to be taken down, and then I wouldn’t be surprised if someone comes along and redoes it,” she admitted. “They’ll just have to take that risk of, ‘Are they gonna get arrested? Or hopefully not shot or anything,’ and then they can take it to court, but I don’t think law courts are the best place to define what good art is.”
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Personal feelings aside, history has not exactly been on the “artist’s” side.
“In some cases of somebody had to prove that what they did was a mural rather than graffiti in order to have it maintained,” Dr. Freeland noted. “Some murals, even though they were loved and they were commissioned by the property owners, have been covered over (against the will of the artist and the community), and I think that’s kind of interesting because it’s just because of the ownership.”
In other words, just because enough people like it, doesn’t mean people in power will let it be. And those who want to keep reviving “Be Someone” will be doing it at their own accord.
“I think the people who get it probably will have to decide whether they’re going to keep trying to do it despite the criminal threat,” Dr. Freeland said. “I find it odd because it’s sort of it’s so ambiguous what what does it really mean? And why do people like it? It seems kind of harmless to me. I don’t see why people would mind it."
Perhaps 13 years has been a long enough run for it, but that’s not really for us to decide.