Art facilities need update

A rusty nail protrudes from a piece of wood on a bench outside the fourth floor of the Art Department.

Students, professors and administrators agree art department facilities are in need of an update.

College of Arts and Sciences Dean Carmen Burkhalter acknowledged issues in the building, including poorly maintained bathrooms and outdated equipment.

“In my sixty days I’ve been here, I’ve taken a tour of all of the departments in the College of Arts and Sciences,” Burkhalter said. “I am aware that there are several issues related to restrooms and buildings.”

Professor of Art Wayne Sides said if the department is not renovated potential students interested in art will likely choose other universities over UNA.

“If my son or daughter was thinking of going there and I saw the condition, I wouldn’t send them,” Sides said. “We’ve been losing students over the last few years, and I think that has something to do with it.”

Students enrolled in art classes expressed concerns with facilities located on the first three floors of the department.

“The second floor looks like something out of The Grudge,” said senior Stephanie Gile.

Senior Naomi Mongosa said she has noticed mold on the ceilings, water damage and outdated equipment throughout the building.

“There’s also a huge insect problem that happens every year that doesn’t seem well-maintained either,” Mongosa said.

She said if the university can provide new buildings to allow for university growth, the old ones should be renovated.

The cost is the main problem with improving the quality of the building, Burkhalter said.

Most of the needed updates and improvements in the art department are deferred maintenance issues, and in Alabama those costs fall on the universities, she said.

“Deferred maintenance is funded strictly out of what the administration can afford out of the budget, and the state legislature has decreased the budget for higher education,” she said.

She said to receive funding from the state, the university would have to start from the ground up on a new building. Then it would qualify for a bond issue to pay for the expenses.

Sides said, “I know they’re building lots of new buildings. Maybe we’re on the list.”

Burkhalter is currently working to identify the needs of each department in the College of Arts and Sciences, she said.

She said she plans to implement proactive methods to address such issues in the future opposed to ending up in “the reactive stage we are in now.”

As far as building improvements go, she said, the art department is at the top of her list.

The art department will go through the accreditation process in 2016.

Burkhalter said this is a way for the university to be held accountable for properly maintaining equipment and facilities.

“I’m very excited about what the department of art is doing from an educational perspective and I don’t want our facility struggles to reflect any way, shape, or form on my commitment to that department,” Burkhalter said.