Over and over I’ve submitted art inside restaurants, most are local owners with a few multiple drink shops or restaurants-they continue to be rejected as “generic business.” I am NOT submitting the business. I am submitting something unique and identifiable inside the business.
Sick of pokestops with just a shit if the exterior of a business or shopping center getting approved and not actual art elements of interest.
Why are these being denied?
-Boba Is Life! Neon (inside Fruitealicious locally owned store)
-Good Vibes Only mural (inside Fruitealicious locally owned store submitted after other submission denied)
-Born to Rule! Neon (inside Krak Boba tea store)
-The King Loves Cane’s portrait (inside Raising Cane’s restaurant) this also got rejected for face/body parts 
Please provide:
- A screenshot of your nomination, including rejection reasons if it has already been rejected
- Include the title, description, both photos, and supplemental information
- Copy and paste the title, description and supplemental so others can translate them
- If you feel comfortable please share the location, as it is helpful (i.e. hidden duplicates), but you can mask it if you wish.
There is some nuance to this question. I will approve art in chain restaurants if I have confidence that it is (fairly) unique. I.e. it is not in every single other location of that restaurant.
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You’re telling me. I have seen the exact same “Hello” Telephone Mural and Whataburger Mural in about a thousand different places. It’s becoming tiresome.
If you don’t mind me asking @AmberInDallas, why was the “Good Vibes Only” rejected because I actually remember reviewing that one.
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I will also approve art inside an otherwise “generic” business, if the art is truly unique and worthy of exploration. For example, my hair stylist has a wall where local artists can display their work.
If, the “art” though is something that is probably found in multiple locations of the store or just simple wall decor that isn’t something that would be considered worth exploring if placed anywhere else, I wouldn’t. This is a judgement call, but that’s my approach.
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The first three photos are words, not really pictures. They’re the store’s name, or slogan (with maybe their logo). Advertising / marketing. Not something you’d go there expressly to see. I don’t think “mural” is the right word for them.
There are Elvis fans who would go into a place to see an Elvis painting. But probably not if it’s mass produced and they’ve seen a thousand like it already. In reviewing, I would right-click and search the image on google to see if there are millions of them. And then I’d consider passing it anyway, lol. Assuming it doesn’t look easy to move (temporary). Because it was put up for people to admire, not to convince them to buy something.
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Thanks for reviewing it! Final rejection was “generic business.”
Thank you so much-your feedback is very helpful! No more words will be submitted.
Elvis portrait was signed and dated by the artist. 
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Let give you something to think about. A lot of Wayfinders have become familiar with local mural artists. I wonder if your local area has a local shop that makes these neon signs. Maybe ask the manager of one of these stores if the neon sign was shipped to them by corporate or if it was commissioned by a local business. If there’s a local artisan making these, you could find out something about their artistry and connection to the community the same way we do with people who paint murals.
If they are just being shipped from corporate, then they’re probably not going to be POI worthy, unfortunately.
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There is a lot of things in chain businesses that most likely are in every store, which doesn’t make them distinct, including art. I don’t know how many submissions I’ve rejected that are just the logos for a chain painted on the wall, or artwork that’s a part of every location.
I’ll give a good exception, and that would be the murals highlighting the local area at many Walmarts these days. They are all unique to the store and the area the store is located in, and many have been done by local artists.
I’d try to find out if the chains are participating in a unique artwork program, and if so, focus on finding those and nominate them. Both of the Walmart murals in my area I nominated and both have been approved. A web search before nominating wouldn’t hurt to make sure it meets criteria.
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The far no side would probably be something like the image above a section in a grocery store that I’ve seen attempted as a “mural”.
The far yes side I’d give is firehouse subs with a unique painting in each location that has some sort of local fire truck and landmarks! (TIL it’s all by one guy?)
Definitely needs some good supporting information to explain how something is unique and not just mass produced.
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Yep, Trader Joes and Firehouse Subs are known for having murals unique to each location. And I am hearing about Wal-mart murals but I haven’t been inside one of those in a decade probably, so I can’t say if the one near me has a locally unique mural. (It would be eligible, if so.)
The one thing that many might think is “generic” to a chain that I would have no problem approving is some kind of branded back-drop that is set up to be a selfie spot. The individual use of that kind of spot would make each one a “local” experience, IMO. Trust me, I ain’t interested in using a selfie spot, but I would approve them as POI for others to use.
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I feel like the other pieces are eligible, but just to weigh into the last one- there is a customer’s head right under and to the right of the Elvis painting. That’s probably where the face and body parts rejection came from, and I think that’s reasonable. Luckily it only needs a quick crop to fix it.
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Actually, every Raising Cane’s restaurant has that Elvis painting in it, so it’s not unique. This is because the original store had a hole in a wall that needed to be covered, and all that could be found was a velvet Elvis painting, so now all stores have one.
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I echo what many have said about unique or local art displayed within a generic business as being good points of interest. There are several grocery stores in the area I live in that have the local murals, but they are each different with the pictures depicted as being local to that city, and are commissioned by local artists. And there are quite a few restaurants that have locally hand painted or hand crafted murals and mosaics, which are either not at other locations (if it’s a chain) or it’s a one-and-only family owned place anyway.
I also think that the selfie photo op spots are nice, because they are set up to be a somewhat social experience and at the very least a good memory making spot which I think counts for exploring.
I also agree with the comment about asking the business owners more about the art. I’ve found a couple really neat pieces that way that it was able to nominate and was able to include that info in my description and/or supporting info. And sometimes you get to hear cool stories! One of the fun things about wayfaring. 
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