As USI continues to thrive and polish the campus with new shiny buildings, art students are forced to bottle up their frustrations and reluctantly retreat to the hovering bunker that is one of the least updated buildings on all of campus.

All other buildings on campus stand tall and proud, and yet the art building seems small and pale in comparison. But the outside isn’t even half of what students are unhappy about.

Even if you aren’t an art student, just walking through the hallways and feeling the windowless walls of concrete surround you cast an unhappy and uninspired atmosphere, which is the opposite of how a building dedicated to art should feel.

There should be more bright colors and unique pieces displayed throughout the halls, more room for students to flex their creativity and more maintenance to make the building more comfortable and up to date.

There is also the issue of scheduling classes for students. Due to the lack of classrooms and room in general, students have trouble scheduling the classes they need at reasonable times. Many classes are only scheduled at one specific time, making students struggle to make room for all the classes they need.

Art students should be treated with as much importance and seriousness as any other students on campus, so the building in which they spend most of their time should make them feel inspired and active, not dull and miserable.

There shouldn’t be only one accessible bathroom located in the basement. There shouldn’t be fewer classrooms than the building requires to meet all of its students’ needs. An art building shouldn’t be the smallest and least cared for location on campus.

Art exists to inspire people, to express creativity and make people feel things. Why should USI treat the art department like it doesn’t matter? Why aren’t the art students and staff being listened to or taken seriously?

Art has changed the world and constantly changes lives every day. The art building needs a serious change and an upgrade to promote the amazing works its students produce and aspire to showcase to those all over campus. Art is important, so the building on campus that is supposed to represent it should shine a lot brighter and make its occupants a whole lot happier.