By Michael Wunder, News Editor
Come spring, some campus walls may be a little less bare and some UNO art students’ pockets a little less empty. On Thursday, Feb. 17, the UNO Student Senate voted to allocate $3,000 of the University’s budget to purchase student artwork for campus buildings.
“I definitely believe this resolution supports the UNO art community,” said Sen. Tatiana Eskridge. “Especially the students.”
Eskridge, who represents CFAM, sponsored SR-10/11-27, which was approved by the senate Thursday.
The resolution allocates $750 to participating colleges for the purpose of purchasing student artwork in order to “beautify” the UNO campus.
So far, the College of Education, the College of Business and CPACS are all participating in the program.
Student art will find its way onto the walls of Roskens Hall, the CPACS building, the Peter Kiewitt Institute and Mammel Hall.
The participating college deans would decide which artwork to purchase, and students would set their own prices, Eskridge said.
Artwork purchased would come from the Juried Student Exhibition, currently on display in the UNO Art Gallery in the Weber Fine Arts Building from Feb. 18 to March 17.
Sen. Terrence Batiste said the resolution is a step forward in engaging UNO’s artistic community.
“Art is a good thing for this campus,” Batiste said. “We should really support our artists here on campus as much as possible.”
The resolution met some skepticism during its time on the floor.
“This is more of an honor and recognition,” said Arts and Sciences Senator Ankit Agrawal. “I don’t know if students should get paid for that.”
Eskridge addressed such concerns in an interview.
“This is a time for the art students to grow,” she said. “It is a great opportunity for them to gain experience. This resolution is going to help support that.”
Eskridge adopted the resolution after encouragement from former Student Senator Marshall McGovern, who originally spearheaded the project. After stepping down, the former senator urged Eskridge to commandeer the effort.
Originally, the resolution was to set aside a total of $6,000, but after some colleges failed to respond to initial offers from Eskridge, the senate voted to halve that amount.
No colleges were omitted from the process, Batiste said. Any deans who failed to respond “self-opted” themselves out of the project.
Despite some skepticism, the resolution passed by a significant margin.
