[CPProt.net] Vandalism and Theft at Smiley. Four artworks were stolen from the student art gallery in the Smiley Art Building on Nov. 7, according to a campus police report.

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

The New Paltz Oracle
Volume 77 Issue 11
Thursday, December 8, 2005

Vandalism and Theft at Smiley
By Colin Werfelman, Contributing Writer

Four artworks were stolen from the student art gallery in the Smiley Art
Building on Nov. 7, according to a campus police report. The thief remains
unidentified, and the pieces have yet to be returned or recovered.

What the report fails to reveal though, is that the thief who stole the four
11' by 14' colored pencil landscape drawings didn't break into the building,
or sneak into it past cameras or guards - they just walked right in, in
broad daylight - and no one stopped them.

The student whose works were stolen, art major Eric Mistretta, was
unreachable for comment. One of his close friends who is in charge of the
student art gallery, Eric Schoonebeek, a senior art major, said that
currently there are no safety or security measures in place to protect
student artwork in the building - day or night.

"There's usually at least one door open at all times," said Schoonebeek.
"Even at midnight. There's no keycard system in place, and we've been trying
to get one for a while."

A keycard system in the building would allow only art students to enter the
building after certain hours and on certain specified days. The Fine Arts
Building and both science buildings on campus use these systems.

Schoonebeek himself has experienced similar acts of damage to Mistretta's
when many of the paintings outside his third floor studio in the Smiley Art
Building were vandalized.

"It looked like someone had just run down the hallway and knocked all of my
paintings off the wall," said Schoonebeek. "Paintings were slashed and so
was the seating in the hallway."

Art major Jess Lewandowski noted that the building needed to be accessible
to its students until late hours of the night - the studio is the only place
some work can be done. Lewandowski suggested that this easy entranceway
makes Smiley Art an ideal target for vandalism, with its doors open to
anyone who wanders in, no matter the time.

Art Department Chair Patricia Phillps said that vandalism and theft have
been a serious problem for the Smiley Art Building over the last year, but
that increasing security through keycards hasn't been on the school's
budget.

"I think the building has some security problems," said Phillips. "And we
need to address them now."

In lieu of the keycard system, Phillips is organizing a plan to hire
work-study students to sit as gallery guards in the Smiley Art Building to
watch over the student artwork. Phillips said the building technician as
well as the Art department as a whole is supporting the plan, and that
keycard access is well within the buildings near future.

"The administration and building technician are on board with our ideas to
protect the gallery," Phillips said. "I'm telling you that if we can achieve
better security in the building, we will."

SUNY New Paltz Chief of Police Ray Bryant said that the Smiley art building
has severe safety issues that need to be dealt with immediately.

"The department needs to spend their money in the right areas," said Bryant.
"Keycard access is the only sure answer."

Though Mistretta's pieces weren't stolen at night, Smiley Art Building
technician Tom Blake said that most of the vandalism probably does occur at
night - when there are less people around. Blake said that besides the
anticipated addition of gallery guards, installing security cameras was
being discussed. Blake said he was disappointed in the continuing vandalism
this year.

"Every once in a while something like this happens, and it's shocking," said
Blake. "It's a shame we have to worry about this stuff, but this is what
we're facing right now."

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