Sculpture Vandalism Illustrate Art Building’s Security Problems

By Rachael Dickson

Recent vandalism of sculpture materials points to a larger security problem with the new art building’s sculpture yard.

Sculptural Supervisor Ben Ashworth filed a report with Mason police on Sept. 21 after he found several sculptures in progress damaged.

See more photos of the sculpture yard.  Click here for the full gallery.

All photos by Rachael Dickson.

Several gourds purchased by a student and brought in for a project were smashed and thrown out into the yard. One class’s large collective piece of sculpture was pushed over on its side.

“It was rowdy vandalism,” Tom Ashcraft, the head of the sculpture department said. “Though it was nothing that couldn’t be replaced, it violated the student’s property and work. They were very upset.”

Ashcraft attributes the vandalism to the new space’s openness. The space behind the art building is set on a grassy hill backed by woods and visible from Patriot Circle. Students spread out in the yard to work on sculptures made out of wood and recovered materials. The school’s several sculpture studios open out onto the yard with mechanized garage-like doors that are often left open to let in air and light.

“The courtyard is an extension of our classroom,” Ashcraft said. “There’s a great need for a fence and security.”

The yard is located on a well-traveled route from Lot A to academic buildings on campus. Passersby cut through the yard itself and sometimes interfere with materials.

“People walk by and see something interesting and they want to pick it up and touch it,” Ashcraft said. “Materials come and go- it always looks like it’s in a state of chaos.”

Ashcraft has posted caution tape and signs around the area to tell students what the space is for, yet the problems have continued. He worries that people might walk by while students are grinding stone, which can send out material and sparks of light that can be dangerous to look at directly.

Ashcraft has made several phone calls upward to request a fence for the yard, and expects for it to be put up by the end of the semester. He envisions a porous fence on which ivy can grow.

“That way, the space can be secure and we can also create something beautiful,” Ashcraft said.
In the mean time, graduate students in sculpture have been asked to keep an eye out for potential vandals during their hours in the building. Ashcraft said it is common for his students to come in at all hours of the night.

“It’s a little bit nerve-racking to think of these young men working all alone in an open place without security,” Ashcraft said.