Here at UMSL, it’s easy to spot the large, confusing building Benton Hall, or maybe you can catch the stocks floating by through the window of the Business Building, but where’s the art? It’s my opinion that UMSL student art should be more prominent, and their presence should be felt by all who come here. Imagine all of North Campus plastered head to toe with the best art that the school has to offer. It’d be a great thing not only for the artists, but for the school as well. It’d make things less dreary, more imaginative, and maybe a little more fun. Then again, because of the lack of exposure, a lot of students don’t even know where the art building is.
The art building, located a little ways away from North Campus right off of Florissant road, is right beside the UMSL softball field and observatory. It looks like a small building, but it’s more impressive with its depth. When you walk in, you’re greeted by a flash of art in expressive color covering the walls. There’s two floors to the place: The top floor has both the primary classrooms, all equipped with more Macs than a box of Kraft noodles. Then on the bottom floor is where they have their larger workshops, and again, more student art along with their decorated lockers. My words can’t give the place justice, but take it from me, it’s pretty damn cool.
This is just me, but what if the building where more centralized? Maybe the students like their privacy and the far-off location works for them, but after seeing the skill that they possess it’d be really cool to have it more accessible to everyone, and maybe the artists could show it off to more people. Granted, there’s already a lot more art in various buildings, amd although some are or were students, it doesn’t account for everyone and there should be more representation. Then again, this could just be a pipe-dream. Where would they even put a new art building anyway? Still, it’d be nice to have a more central location for artists, it’d add so much more life and color to the monochromatic red brick buildings we all know and love.
Art is something that both lightens up our everyday lives, and shows us a different way of looking at the world around us. I’m not hating on the science or business administration, and it definitely seems to be UMSL’s main focus, but more attention should be given to UMSL’s art community. I’m sure there’s plenty of starving artists who would jump at the opportunity, and a warm audience looking for something artful to look at. It would be a great show of pride and school spirit to show off more of what UMSL has to offer. It brings people in who’ve been distant for far too long, and it offers cohesion in a way that shows off UMSL’s creative soul. Even if there’s no centralized building, something should be done about showing off more of this school’s hidden talent.
