Amid the electric whir of tattoo machines and the thump of rock tunes at Carroll County?s first tattoo convention Sunday, two industry legends criticized a proposed ban on tattoo shops from downtown Westminster.
“There were tattoos before city councils,” said Lyle Tuttle, a world-renowned artist from San Francisco who is credited with catapulting tattoos into the mainstream after inking Peter Fonda, Janis Joplin and Cher. “It just shows the council?s tunnel vision. It?s prejudice.”
Mike Skiver, a white-bearded artist with shops in Cumberland, Md., and Somerset, Pa., said local governments have unfairly targeted tattoo shops for years.
Skiver said he has been singled out for the size of his advertisements on marquees and snowy sidewalks, while more traditionally accepted businesses never caught the attention of city officials.
Westminster Common Council is weighing whether to bantattoo parlors from downtown because they don?t fit with the city?s vision for capitalizing on its historic streets. The council could vote on the issue as soon as Feb. 12.
“The only thing older than tattoos is cave drawings,” Skiver said.
Bob and Polly Hewitt, two Westminster tattoo artists, organized this weekend?s convention at Martin?s banquet hall as a way to not only lure business, but also show that all kinds of people have adorned their skin with body art.
The couple had scheduled their shop?s reopening this winter after relocating from the outskirts of the city to Pennsylvania Avenue. But then the city announced it was considering banning tattoo parlors from downtown.
About 1,500 people attended the convention Saturday, and hundreds more were expected to visit Sunday, when attendees watched the presentation of awards and Rob Hill, a pierced sideshow artist, breathed fire.
A handful of people spoke against or for the ban at a public hearing last week, but some ink lovers gathered after the hearing to vent their frustrations.
“Nobody?s ever gotten a tattoo, driven off and killed a family of four” like people do after drinking at bars, said Jason Nightingale, owner of Tiki Tattoo in Westminster.
