A family in Mount Dora, Florida sued their city for fining them $10,000 for painting a mural of Van Gogh’s famous "A Starry Night" on their house so their autistic son could always find his way home. After a year-long court battle, the family won and the city had to pay them $15,000.
The Nemhauser family decided to paint their house like Van Gogh’s famous "A Starry Night" because they want to have a landmark for their autistic son in case he got lost and needed to find his way back home.
"He would be able to at least mention the Van Gogh house and people would be able to help," Ms. Nemhauser told Reuters.
The city claimed that the house’s paint job violated city code. They claimed the mural turned the house into a small-time tourist attraction and could be a distraction to motorists.
Their attorney, Jeremy Talcott of Pacific Legal Foundation, argued that the city was breaching the family’s freedom of expression and they won.
“Obviously we’re very pleased with the settlement, it accomplished everything we set out to do,” said Talcott.
The BBC reported that the Mayor of Mount Dora, Nick Girone, publicly apologized to the family citing the city’s history of supporting local artists.
The artist who did the mural posted a before and after on Twitter. He has also been getting hired to do many more of his graffiti murals even internationally, Fox 35 reports.