Why is the City of San Diego targeting local artists for enforcement actions?
San Diego native and local artist Sara Duvall has been making and sharing her art for years. She was trained locally (and internationally) and now gives back to the community by teaching as well. Sara has shown her work in galleries, received awards for her art, and—most recently—been fined repeatedly by the City of San Diego for sharing her art with the public in Balboa Park. Why? Because after the City of San Diego passed its Sidewalk Vending Ordinance in early 2024, it decided that Sara is no longer an artist but instead a “vendor” not worthy of First Amendment protections.
San Diego defines constitutionally-protected “expressive activity” as including “the sale of artwork” as well as “visual art sold by the artist.” But San Diego excludes “handcrafts” from constitutional protection. According to the City, “handcrafts” are “objects made either by hand or with the help of devices” and the City has decided that such “objects [are] not likely to communicate a message, idea, or concept to others, are often mass-produced or produced with limited variation, and often have functional utility apart from any communicative value they might have.” All of Sara’s pieces are original, unique, and expressive works of art. But because many of Sara’s works are made from clay or are mixed media including clay, the City appears to consider them not art, but instead non-expressive “pottery” subject to its vending laws.
But Sara’s art is all about expression: her art is an expression of her beliefs as well as her lived experiences. She studies form, experimenting with miniature pieces as a meditation on the impact of people on the earth. Sara also has synesthesia and investigates this experience through her art—as evidenced by her pieces depicting faces, particularly those delineating separate halves. Sara also uses art to explore language and politics, with many pieces expressing constitutionally-protected viewpoints.
As a San Diego native, Sara grew up going to Balboa Park with her mother. The Park holds special significance for Sara and she has loved sharing her art with the public over the years. Her favorite thing to do on a sunny California afternoon is to talk about art with passersby in the Park. People share with her their own experiences with art, describe the art they create themselves, and ask questions about her work. But no longer. Since her repeated citations, Sara has been afraid to return to Balboa Park. For now, she’s focused on appealing her citations and proving what seems obvious to everyone except the City of San Diego, that she is an artist.
Some of Sara’s original pieces of art she was showing in August 2024 when fined $250 by San Diego Park Rangers for being a “vendor” and not an artist.
Sara with one of her “miniature” meditations on nature through art.
Sara with some of the works of art she was showing when fined $500 by San Diego Park Rangers in May 2025 for being a “vendor” and not an artist.