The rise and fall of the art studio

By Joe Shuron

When the Center for Integrated Humanities at Chestnut Hill College took over the underutilized art studio in St. Joseph Hall four years ago, they envisioned a quiet place for students to study away from the raucous McCaffery Longue. Now, the art studio has been vandalized and will be closed until at least the fall semester.

In the summer of 2021, center Chair Suzanne del Gizzo, adjunct professor of fine arts Danielle Rossi, and a few other faculty organized and cleaned the entire studio. They transformed the messy and worn space into a bright and vibrant room.

Faculty bought new furniture and lighting as well as basic art supplies for students who wanted to just sketch and relax. There was a coffee maker ready to go free of charge. The space was going to be a peaceful place for students in the college.

When students returned after the pandemic the former art studio received a lot of productive use. The student art club and campus ministry used the space for various events. There was a series called the “Chromatic Café,” in which supervised students enjoyed coffee and cookies.

This transformed and rediscovered place had only one flaw: the door to the studio must remain unlocked at all times because of a city fire code requirement. Students discovered this about a year and half after the dramatic change of the art studio. Some students began sneaking into the studio at night and leaving the space a mess.

“We would come in and find supplies left open on the table, brushes dried, or paint dumped into the sink,” del Gizzo said.

The solution was to post signs with a timeframe that asked students to treat the space respectfully. This did not last as most of the posters were ripped down.

Recently, a group of students discovered the spray paint left in the room. They spray painted inside, destroying the tables in the art studio.

“This was really upsetting to us because it was so contrary to the vision we had for the space,” del Gizzo said.

There is a plan in place to repair the art studio, but it will take a couple of months.

“This is probably very few people making a really negative impact,” del Gizzo said. “We are determined to recover the space as a place for students to use.”