TO THE EDITOR:

Contrary to what Chancellor Folt has led you to believe, at UNC the arts are not for everyone. The physical buildings designated for the arts are both falling apart and inaccessible, especially in terms of the visual arts. The roof is crumbling on Hanes Art, causing panic each time it rains. On the 3rd floor, the print studio ceiling and floor are stained with water damage, and on the 2nd floor of the Sloane Art Library, plastic sheeting covers the stacks in an attempt to keep books dry. Look outside a 3rd floor window and you’ll see the roof covered with tarps that flap up with any wind. 

Nowhere on the Campaign for Carolina website, a $4.25billion fundraiser), another Folt initiative, are these structural issues addressed. (Additionally, for a student to take a 3-D art class or visit most MFA studios, they have to travel a few miles to the Art Lab.)

Additionally, on the Arts Everywhere website, none of the exhibitions up in Hanes Art/around campus that feature emerging artists studying on campus are mentioned: Lindsay Metiver’s MFA thesis show, Almost No Memory, Sam Prasad’s BFA honors thesis exhibition, Relic Query, MFA Candidate John DeKemper’s body-positive workshop, Treated, or the collection of hand-made artist’s books in the Art Library. 

Perhaps Folt in the future will seek to support the working artists on this campus and make sure their facilities are functional, before placing a piano outside their building advertising the Campaign for Carolina. Arts visibility does not equal support.