By Gabriella Casanas, The Brown and White
An architectural model was stolen from the Fourth Annual Lehigh University Art, Architecture, & Design Juried Student Exhibition last Friday.
Previously located in Girdler Student Gallery in lower U.C., the piece has not been returned or located by the Lehigh Police Department.
"Protecting students' work is more important than the integrity of the show," said Catherine Higgins, '10, curator for the exhibition. "It's the fourth year of a student show and it's never happened before."
Mark Wonsidler, coordinator of exhibitions and collections, expressed his disbelief and distress over the stolen pieces.
"It's extremely upsetting, certainly within a university environment where by nature we work very close together, that someone would choose to disrespect the work of another," Wonsidler said. "I don't know what would motivate someone to do that. There is really not a lot we can do. All the works are securely screwed down and attached but in the case of two dimensional objects, they are too big to walk away with, or so we thought."
Some students were very upset about the incident.
"I didn't know that, that's horrible, very disrespectful. I am surprised that this would happen," said Emily Means, '09. "The pieces are meant to be celebrated not to be stolen."
The end-of-the-year exhibition is meant to celebrate and acknowledge students' accomplishments, said Higgins.
"It's an outreach for Lehigh University Art Galleries to do another form of education," Wonsidler said. "A lot of our programs are about educating the Lehigh community about what it means to run a museum. It's another way we interface with the community. It's another form of education which we go through step by step."
The exhibition is on show in the Girdler Student Gallery from March 23 to April 24 and is available for student and faculty viewing.
The exhibit aims to educate students on the jurying process, as pieces in the gallery are judged and weighted. The exhibit also looks to connect the city of Bethlehem with student art.
Wonsidler and Higgins have been collaborating since this past fall semester in order to achieve a successful final product. There is a lot of planning that's done after the jurors, Ben Walmer, '98, and Rana Walmer, '98, choose the pieces, Higgins said.
"You don't want pieces to overpower one another," Higgins said. "It's like playing musical chairs to see what pieces make sense where. The pieces work well together, it was a happy accident."
Higgins said the gallery's final product made optimal use of the space allotted.
"It looks really clean, excellent use of the space. Both the curator and the jurors did a really good job of how much work can fit in a space like that, because it's an unusual hallway space," she said. "They made very judicious selections."
The work paid off, Means said, and the artwork chosen has created a unified and unique gallery.
"It was nicely done. All the work was very beautiful. It was nice to have a show at the end of the year that celebrated all our work on display," Means said. "But I didn't make them with the intention of having them shown."
Out of 18 pieces that were shown, three were recognized in the exhibition: "Aviators," "A Lighthouse for the Keeper of The Tides," and "Light and Water."
"Each piece lends itself to its own interpretation, they're all kind of eye-catching," Randi Cutler, '12, said. "I would be interested in doing something like this, it's intriguing. It would be great if it was advertised more because the pieces are really worth seeing."
