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Salt Lake City liquor lawyer turns those maligned ‘This Is a Restaurant, Not a Bar’ signs into art

Salt Lake Tribune | November 15, 2018

Related Topics: Salt Lake City, Restaurant, Tanner Lenart, Liquor, Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, Utah, Bar, Lawyer, Sign, Restaurant and Bar

Confusion, anger and plenty of social media jabs bubbled up in May 2017, when the state required restaurants to post “This Is a Restaurant, Not a Bar" signs.

Today, those 8.5-by-11-inch sheets of paper are now obsolete and have been turned into an artistic conversation piece.

“This Is Art, Not a Sign” is a collage of more than two dozen signs removed from the front windows of Utah businesses some six months ago, when the state changed the sign requirement for restaurants and tweaked it for bars.

Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune Salt Lake City liquor attorney Tanner Lenart and Nox Contemporary art gallery owner John Sproul tack the ill-fated artistic memorials of Utahu2019s now-defunct liquor law on the walls of Sproul's gallery. The opening reception for the installation is Friday, Nov. 16, and runs thru the end of November. Last May, the state law requiring restaurants and bars to display DABC signs labeling themselves as a u201cbaru201d or a u201crestaurantu201d was repealed. Once a perceived nuisance by restaurateurs, the signs are celebrated art. The installation This Is Art, Not a Sign is a collage made of This Is a Restaurant, Not a Bar liquor signs that were once required in Utah restaurants.
Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune Salt Lake City liquor attorney Tanner Lenart and Nox Contemporary art gallery owner John Sproul tack the ill-fated artistic memorials of Utahu2019s now-defunct liquor law on the walls of Sproul's gallery. The opening reception for the installation is Friday, Nov. 16, and runs thru the end of November. Last May, the state law requiring restaurants and bars to display DABC signs labeling themselves as a u201cbaru201d or a u201crestaurantu201d was repealed. Once a perceived nuisance by restaurateurs, the signs are celebrated art. The installation This Is Art, Not a Sign is a collage made of This Is a Restaurant, Not a Bar liquor signs that were once required in Utah restaurants.
Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune Salt Lake City liquor attorney Tanner Lenart and Nox Contemporary art gallery owner John Sproul tack the ill-fated artistic memorials of Utahu2019s now-defunct liquor law on the walls of Sproul's gallery. The opening reception for the installation is Friday, Nov. 16, and runs thru the end of November. Last May, the state law requiring restaurants and bars to display DABC signs labeling themselves as a u201cbaru201d or a u201crestaurantu201d was repealed. Once a perceived nuisance by restaurateurs, the signs are celebrated art. The installation This Is Art, Not a Sign is a collage made of This Is a Restaurant, Not a Bar liquor signs that were once required in Utah restaurants.

Salt Lake City lawyer Tanner Lenart, who specializes in state liquor laws, asked restaurant owners not to throw out the signs but rather donate them to her project.

See full article at Salt Lake Tribune