[MSN] Art thief strikes in Holman. Someone allegedly snatched eight student works from the Holman Hall painting studio in the past two months, leading to an uproar from the artists on facebook.com.

[MSN]

Art thief strikes in Holman

Student artwork snatched from art building

By: James Queally

Posted: 4/9/08

It appears the College has attracted a more cultured breed of criminal.

Someone allegedly snatched eight student works from the Holman Hall painting
studio in the past two months, leading to an uproar from the artists on
facebook.com.

Cody Rounds, junior fine arts major, noticed one of her works had gone
missing from the studio on March 24, and immediately started a Facebook
group called "HELP ME FIND THIS PAINTING!!!"

The group description reads: "My painting was taken from Holman Hall March
24th, and I (really) would like it back. I don't care at all about who has
it or for what reason, I just would like it returned. It has a great
personal significance to me and I am heartbroken that it is missing."

Currently, the group has 487 members.

Rounds filed a report with the office of Campus Police on March 29 but said
she had no interest in pressing charges. 

"I just want the painting back, I don't care who did it or why they took it,
I just want it back," she said. "I would rather not know who did it."

Several other students came forward after Rounds created the group to seek
help finding their own stolen artwork. Becky Barrett, senior history major,
left a message on the group's "wall" describing a painting that went missing
in February. 

Barrett left the painting, a portrait of a friend with blonde hair sitting
outside the New Library, on a drying rack in the fourth floor art studio of
Holman Hall on Feb. 14. When she returned to the studio on Feb. 20, the
painting was gone. 

According to e-mails sent by Richard Mylowe, professional services
specialist for the department of Art, six other works went missing from the
studio in the same time frame.

A Feb. 15 e-mail sent to the "Hotline" list server, an e-mail alert system
that includes students and faculty of the Art and Interactive Multimedia
departments, read: "Someone has taken four 16x20 mounted photographic prints
from the display case on the fourth floor of Holman Hall. These photographs
represent some of the best work of the art photography class. I assume it
was an admirer but would still like to have the student work returned. I'm
convinced that the students would like that too."

The black-and-white mounted prints belonged to students of Ken Kaplowitz,
professor of art, who described the works as "gifts to the department from
the students."

"I have decided not to put anymore of my students' works on display until
this matter is resolved," Kaplowitz said.

A Feb. 20 "Hotline" mentioned the disappearance of two works: a painting of
a flower by Sophia Liu, sophomore art education major, and a "nearly
finished" painting belonging to Lauren Cannon, junior fine arts major.
Rounds described Cannon's work as a portrait of a young girl wearing a "bone
mask."

In a strange turn of events, Cannon's missing work was returned to Holman
Hall on the same day Rounds' was taken. According to Mylowe, a student
noticed the painting in the fourth floor stairwell near the painting studio,
and informed the department of Art office. Cannon claimed it later that day.


"You don't expect to get things like that back," Cannon said.

Cannon added that when she picked up her painting at 2 p.m. on Feb. 24,
Rounds' portrait was still hanging in the hallway outside the studio. The
portrait disappeared at 4 p.m.

Upon the return of her painting, she noticed some writing on the back of the
canvas that had been scratched out with a Sharpie marker. She also
discovered paint residue, which could have been a result of improper
storage.

Cannon said she did not file a police report because she doubted there was
any chance the painting would be recovered.

"We all just figured (the painting) had been stolen to be sold," Cannon
said. "There is no security in that building, so we thought there was no
chance of getting it back."

Officials from the department of Art were unsure if Campus Police had been
notified of any missing works besides Rounds' painting. 

When asked why he hadn't reported any of the works stolen outside of the
"Hotline" server, Mylowe said he wasn't aware that he should.

"I had no idea I was supposed to," he said.

However, Kaplowitz and Elizabeth Mackey, chair of the department of Art,
said that Mylowe was not only supposed to notify the police department, but
had done so after the paintings were reported stolen to the department of
Art.

Campus Police reports confirmed the theft of Rounds' painting on March 24
but no reports of stolen artwork or photographs were filed during the month
of February.

"That doesn't mean stuff hasn't been taken out of there," Administrative
Sgt. Marcie Montalvo said. "We just weren't told about it."

Mylowe said he was never formally instructed to call the police. 

Mackey and Kaplowitz are currently looking into theft reports.

Mackey attributed the confusion to a lack of procedure. According to her,
this is the first time Holman Hall has experienced thefts.

"We've never lost things like this before. It's the first time we've ever
confronted anything like this," Mackey said. "We didn't have a procedure
because we didn't need it."

Montalvo said the students or the professor should have reported stolen
property to Campus Police.

"We can't force anyone to come forward and report something stolen,"
Montalvo said. "But the department should be telling them to file a report
with Campus Police."

Montalvo said the matter is still under investigation, and that Campus
Police will concentrate more heavily on the area surrounding Holman Hall. 

Aside from the return of Cannon's painting, there have been no developments
in regard to the other seven missing works, leaving students like Rounds to
wonder if or when their artwork will find its way back to Holman.

"That was my breakthrough piece," she said. "We always have to paint to our
professor's instructions. This time, I finally did something for myself."

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