The Journal

Issue date: 11/15/07 Section: Commentary

Almost every time someone asks me what school I attend and what my major is, I get the same response: "Oh, that's a good school for the fine arts."

As a senior studio art major, I agree. I feel I would have not have been as challenged had I attended a different university in the Midwest. Many of my fellow art majors feel the same way, but many also think our visual art studio (VAST) is structurally the equivalent of a rural gas station's outdoor restrooms. If Webster University is the great fine arts school it claims to be, the university administration should be embarrassed by their art facilities.

For those of you who have never explored the wilderness of the VAST, allow me to take a moment to be your tour guide. Upon entering the studio you find yourself in the middle of the long corridors where students display their work for class critiques. If you want to hang up your work, always make sure to have a hammer on hand, because you cannot even push a thumbtack through the drywall that is long overdue for replacement.

Going to the painting studio? Be careful if it's a rainy day, because you will get dripped on by the leaky roof, though that's the least of your worries if you haven't passed out from paint fumes due to the lack of proper ventilation. On your way out, make sure to jump over the lake that has appeared by the painting studio's side door.

Need a potty break? You might want to head over to the Sverdrup building to do your business. I wouldn't want you to get sick from going into a bathroom that appears it hasn't been cleaned since its christenings.

Whoa! Did you almost trip? Sorry, I forgot to warn you about the other lake you need to jump over because of the leaky, moldy drinking fountain that took maintenance a month to fix.

It's time to venture on downstairs to the photo darkroom, which looks like a place to destroy photos, not make them. Hurry up and get out of here, because again, you don't want to pass out from the lack of ventilation.

Have you been freezing cold in one room and then burning hot in another? Yes, that's typical of the VAST cooling and heating system, which is not up to par compared to the other buildings on campus. I'm sure you've also noticed the lack of seating and broken tables in some of the classrooms.

Now that I have given you a tour and you have endured my sarcasm, allow me to address another big issue: space. Art students are sitting on top of each other. There is a lot of talent among us at WU. Unfortunately, our creativity is limited by the size of the VAST. We have become quite the acrobats, maneuvering ourselves from one side of a room to the next.

Continued...

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