East Carolinian

Issue date: 11/3/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Leslie Baker

Art students are enraged and dismayed by the vandalism that occurred on ECU's campus over Homecoming weekend in October.

The sculpture "Song of the Sirens" was destroyed in an act of vandalism. The sculpture was created by former graduate student Adam Caleb Buth and was displayed outside of Jenkins Fine Arts Center on Fifth Street for nearly two years.

Jesse Morrisey, sculpture graduate student, found the destroyed piece of art after it was vandalized over Homecoming weekend. She said it looked like the piece had been pushed over and the detached pieces had broken off on impact. The artwork, valued at nearly $12,000, was broken beyond repair.

Though nobody has been arrested for the vandalism, Morrisey speculates at who could have committed such a crime.

The vandals were probably "drunk jerks," she said. "People who thought it would be funny to destroy someone else's property."

Art students and faculty emphasize Morrisey's point - the destruction was done not just to a random object on campus, but rather a work of art priceless to the creator and invaluable to the campus community as a whole.

Savannah Beckler, sophomore graphic design major, said that she can't understand why somebody would want to hurt art on campus and thinks the vandalism is an act of blatant disrespect for another's work.

"We spend a lot of time on the stuff that we do, and it means a lot to us … it's part of you that's been put up on display."

She said ECU's strong art program and the interaction between the art community and the university at large was one of the things that ultimately drew her to ECU, and that anything that would deter art students from displaying their art would be a handicap to the community and the campus environment.

Sculpture professor Hanna Jubran said that though he is shocked by the vandalism incident, he doesn't think it will have a negative effect within the campus's art community and said that the School of Art and Design will "continue to exhibit [students' art] and help our community."

Jubran did not seek to speculate on whether the vandalism occurred as a result of drunken chaos or stemmed from a more malicious motive, but he said he does not hold ECU responsible and the crime's culprit may very well be someone not related to the university.

Regardless of the criminal's intent, he said he wants students to be aware of the artwork's value on campus and to respect it the same way they would the work of any other major.

"Criticize, but don't destroy," he said. "We have no right to destroy each other's work."



This writer can be contacted at news@theeastcarolinian.com.

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