Built in 1956, Southwestern University’s Alma Thomas Fine Arts Center and the Sarofim School of Fine Arts have long been central to the campus. As a liberal arts institution, Southwestern draws a large influx of arts and humanities students each year, most of which have classes or events located in the Fine Arts Building (FAB). 

Even without participation in such classes, it is likely that all students on campus walk through the halls at least once. Whether to see the orchestra perform, the theatre students put on a production, or simply to view works in the on-campus gallery, the Fine Arts Center has long stood as a monument to how students of all walks can connect over the arts. However, in recent years, students and faculty have become increasingly concerned about the safety and stability of the building. 

The Problems are Plain to See

Just like many other older buildings, the Fine Arts Center has its fair share of issues. Hallways twist and turn until one feels like Theseus in the Minotaur’s maze, desperately searching for the right path to class, and stairways only lead to specific parts of the building, not an entire second floor. 

But there is a much deeper problem with the FAB – literally deeper. Due to cracks in walls and visible separation between the floor and walls, many people who frequent the FAB suspect it to lie on shifting foundations, which can be caused by many things including the instability of the clay soils seen at Southwestern. Additionally, the library recently underwent renovation on the side where DISCO resides due to foundation problems, and the library neighbors the FAB. 

Other than the issues with the foundation, the Fine Arts Center has also recently shown signs of mold in the building. Likely worsened by consistent rainfall over spring break, faculty was first notified of the possibility of mold Sunday March 22nd. It is currently unclear if any action has been taken.

What SU Has Visibly Done

While some work may have occurred behind the scenes to create a conducive working environment for students in the FAB, students have not been made aware of any active construction that occurred in regards to the structural integrity of the building. 

Thus far, a choir room and multiple offices were condemned, but no more are marked as unsafe to my knowledge. Maintenance also “fixed” one set of doors to the building by putting them out of order permanently. Additionally, the women’s bathroom on the same side as the aforementioned offices has been marked as out of order for many weeks now, perhaps also due to the shifting foundation.

Amanda Barber, Associate Vice President of Facilities Management revealed that much happened and is currently happening in regards to the Fine Arts Building. According to her, the University has not received any reports from inspection or engineering that recommend vacation of the building, which is why it remains in use. Barber says that these assessments will continue on a regular basis as preparations are made to remodel the building, and assessments made by the relevant safety professionals will be taken with the utmost seriousness should problems arise. In regards to the alleged mold, Barber states that work is currently underway on the roof to prevent leaks and inspections are made at any work orders or reports of discolored ceiling tiles that may be linked to mold. Barber says that, as of now, no mold has been identified in the building. Barber also encourages “anyone who observes a condition of concern to report it immediately to Facilities Management so it can be reviewed and, if necessary, evaluated by the appropriate professionals as part of the planning and safety process.”

All indications the university has received based on the facts available suggest the FAB is ready for updates and repairs but the structure itself is safe, operable, and conducive for student learning. 

Community Opinions

Southwestern community opinions regarding the FAB were collected via anonymous survey. As of writing this, a total of 53 students, faculty, and community members answered the survey within the span of around 24 hours. Of these, 77.4% strongly agreed with the statement “I am concerned about the state of the Fine Arts Building”. 37.7% of participants disagreed with the statement “I think the Fine Arts Building is safe for students, professors, and faculty”. 77.4% also strongly agreed with the statement “I think the Southwestern Board is not doing enough about the FAB” and 75.5% strongly agreed with the statement “I think more should have been done to prevent the FAB from its current state”. While likely not representative of the Southwestern population as a whole, these numbers show how the Southwestern community is greatly concerned about the safety of students, faculty, and staff who visit the building regularly. 

The next quotations are excerpts from the survey responses of Southwestern community members. All answers were kept anonymous and are opinions on the Fine Arts building and may not represent the entirety of Southwestern views on the subject. However, these responses create a clearer vision of viewpoints regarding the FAB.

• “I am worried for the safety of myself, my peers, and my professors. With the rising costs of attendance, there should be some signs of attention paid to the dangers and damage within and outside of the building, and yet, these funds and attention mysteriously disappear to other departments.”
• “It seems they are putting a bandaid on a large, gaping wound.”
• “If the damage keeps being covered up and ignored, I’m worried about all the fine arts classes because there are rooms that were made specifically for certain classes, like theater, so it’ll be very difficult to relocate them.”
• “If it continues to be ignored, it will only get increasingly worse, perhaps at a faster rate. We as the students have been told absolutely nothing. We have no idea what the true state of the building is, whether or not it is really safe, how long the damage will go on for or how fast it will progress. We only know what we see, which is that the damage is getting worse and there’s nothing we can do about it.”
• “There are people that have health issues that are getting exposed to dangerous toxins and chemicals on a daily basis. Even healthy people are getting exposed to dangerous toxins and chemicals. Southwestern, please do something about it.”
• “I feel increasingly frustrated and disappointed because we were all assured Southwestern had a  Fine Arts school and we chose to invest incredible amounts of time and money into this institution, our education, and this school. As such, we deserve not just a safe and maintained building, but to be informed when there are problems and what is going to be done about them.”
• “Just because you don’t see it happening as a student doesn’t mean faculty, staff, and students aren’t working towards fixing the FAB and actively arguing with Trombley. The University has received a 5 million dollar donation that brings renovations (that were already planned) up by 3 months. The best way to make change is action, and by creating and forcing a rhetoric that there is nothing being done eliminates the efforts of all the people in the room, which includes a lot of our professors.”
• “To be honest, with how the school has been trying to steer prospective students away from the Studio Arts major, I doubt the school will do anything about the FAB, and that’s what’s worrying me the most.”

New Funding

As of Wednesday March 25th, just a day after the sharing of the survey connected to this article, it was announced that an anonymous donor had given Southwestern the funding to renovate the Fine Arts Building. This generous donation of $5 million was praised by the university as an investment to advance “a comprehensive transformation of the facility, enhancing core building systems, reimagining creative spaces, and aligning the environment with the evolving needs of interdisciplinary fine arts education” (Andrew Felts). 

Planned Updates

The afternoon of March 26th, Amanda Barber sent out an email regarding updates to on-campus facilities. Unlike Felt’s official article, this email specifically addressed concerns regarding the foundation of the building. According to the message, the project is planned to repair and stabilize the foundation, repair interior spaces, and improve the building. The report also claims a structural engineer indicates the building’s foundation requires repair but is structurally sound, which will hopefully ease student’s concern. The anticipated completion date for this project is still unknown.

Why It Matters

The fine arts are a paramount part of society. Even with the rise of the digital age and the growth of AI usage, the fine arts are still something people can find commonality and stories in regardless of age, gender, ability, language, or other such differences. 

Here at Southwestern, a passion for creation can be seen in almost everything around us. From the paintings inside Comms to Music on the Mall; from Step and Stroll to us writers, editors, photographers, and comic artists here at the Megaphone. 

The Fine Arts Center is not just a building, but further a representation of the arts in all the forms they take here at the university. A sanctuary of stone, shielding those inside in worlds carved from music, words, clay, and the ink of printmaking classes. Without such a place on campus, the “arts” aspect of “Liberal Arts” would be all but lost. Shakespeare may have said that all the world is a stage and we are but the players, but nothing truly compares to the real thing.