CHLOE KOWALYK
News Editor
If you’ve been on Instagram lately, you may have seen numerous students reposting a photo of a pink sculpture with a “Sensitive Content” message covering it.
You may have also seen the Fredonia Art Forum Instagram page, @fredoniaartforum, detailing how the sculptures may be removed due to construction plans to take place over a two-year period.
SUNY Fredonia has plenty of sculptures on campus, many of which are on loan from the artists or have been purchased by the university.
The sculptures are brought to campus through the In Sight/On Sight Sculpture Program that was started by the Department of Visual Arts and New Media back in 1998.
Since then, the project has brought a plethora of sculptures to the campus, including “Stockpiles,” the pink sculptures in the greenery between McEwen, Mason and Maytum.
The In Sight/On Sight Sculpture program also works hand in hand with Fredonia Art Forum, a Student Association recognized club here on campus.
Recently, there has been discussion surrounding the removal of “Stockpiles.”
Back in the summer of 2019, Vice President Mike Metzger of SUNY Fredonia determined “Stockpiles,” by Rainy Lehrman to be “inappropriate” for the campus.
Following Metzger’s opinion, many other SUNY Fredonia faculty members began voicing their own opinions regarding the aesthetics of the art on campus, wishing the sculptures would be removed.
Unfortunately for those opposed to the piece, “Stockpiles” is on campus through a loan that won’t be up until Spring 2022.
In response, Max Lee, the president of Art Forum started a petition on Change.org, which has garnered almost 800 signatures.
Many students lamented saying that just because faculty and administration do not like the sculptures doesn’t mean they should be removed.
Lehrman is also one of the only female artists to be featured on campus.
This desire to remove “Stockpiles” created many issues of student censorship, as faculty and administrative members would be making a decision without student input, especially regarding a student club such as Fredonia Art Forum.
In fact, neither students nor Fredonia Art Forum were contacted by Metzger at all. Students had to reach out to Metzger themselves to provide input.
Lee has been in contact with Metzger several times, and each of his emails were responded to in an unpleasant manner.
Student input as a whole was not well-received, and was returned with ambiguous, copied-and-pasted responses to each of the students who reached out.
Most recently, Metzger has claimed that “Stockpiles” will interfere with construction that is due to happen outside of Rockefeller Arts Center, however, according to Fredonia Building and Grounds, this will not be an issue.
After multiple students contacted Metzger showing disapproval for the removal of the sculptures and the large amount of student support for the sculptures shown through the petition, a decision regarding the pieces has been made.
Lehrman and Metzger have reached a verbal agreement: “Stockpiles” will be moved, but not until Lehrman is on Fredonia’s campus at a date of her choosing.
While the sculptures will be moved, they are, according to Metzger, being moved to a “visible location.”
Lee says “the fight is not over” and Art Forum will continue to advertise the importance of the In Sight/On Sight Program, as well as advocating for student authority and fighting student censorship.