What's the difference between art and a sign?

• Wesley and Yolinda Strawn live along the island canals and island artisti Jennifer Seymour painted album covers on their outside wall.
• The Padre Isles Property Owners Association (PIPOA) says that these paintings must be removed because they violate the POA sign policy.
• Representatives from the PIPOA say that these paintings are signs that are trying to portray certain messages.
• The Strawns say they will not remove the album paintings.

The Strawn Family was unpleasantly surprised when they opened their front door on Tuesday morning and found a notice letter from their property owner's association, The Padre Isles Property Owners Association (PIPOA). Wesley and Yolinda Strawn had local artist and their friend, Jennifer Seymour, paint several music album covers on the wall above their bulkhead in their backyard area along the canal. The PIPOA says that these paintings violate their sign policy. The paintings are on the property owned by Wesley and Yolinda Strawn.

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“It’s not a sign. It is artwork. Artwork is something that stimulates emotion. So when you see this, you know, it takes you back to a different time. It takes you to a place where this music, you know, makes you feel something. And that is not a sign. That is not an advertisement. That is art," Jennifer Seymour, a local island artist, said.

The PIPOA's sign policy that they cited in the letter states, "No sign of any kind shall be displayed to the public view except one professional sign of not more than five square feet advertising the property for sale, or signs used by a builder to advertise the property during construction and sales period."

The Executive Director of the PIPOA, Richard McGinley said that multiple people filed complaints to them about the paintings. He also said that the album paintings are in violation of the sign policy on the PIPOA'S covenants, conditions, and restrictions documents. The Strawns and Jenn, do not believe that any complaints were made from people on the island.

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“They said that they had a couple complaints about it. I’ve talked to all my direct neighbors around here. They’ve all had positive things to say about it," Wesley Strawn said.

Seymour posted a reel on her social media of the paintings and she received only positive feedback from her followers and island residents.

“As of now, I think the video that I posted has been viewed almost six thousand times, and not one person has had anything negative to say," Seymour said.

Jett Strawn, the son of Wesley and Yolinda, also feels passionately about the paintings in his yard.

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“It makes me kind of sad knowing that there’s people that think this artwork that took months to complete in all, is a sign," Jett said.

The paintings display album covers from artists such as The Beatles, Selena, Pink Floyd, Nirvana, Sublime, Jimmy Hendricks, and several more.

“It would be sacrilegious to cover Selena's face in Corpus Christi!" Yolinda said.

Seymour says that the message of her paintings was to spread joy and love to people to pass by.

“I don't think anyone has any issues with it. And if they do, I would love for them to reach out to me. You know, I’d love to maybe make some art for them or bring a little bit of happiness to their life," Seymour said.

The Strawns say that they will stand firm in their belief that the album paintings are considered art, and not a sign. They refuse to take it down or paint over it. They said they will do whatever it takes to keep up their favorite artists' album covers on their wall.

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