There is a Greek-styled statue of a nude woman, cradling her hands near the cleavage of her breasts, hair drawn together in the middle of the back of her head and the draped down to the back of her neck in the Visual Arts building near the intersection of Willet Drive and 22nd Street.
Various signs have been posted near the galleries and the classrooms of the Visual Arts building about the content that is on display. One sign says some people may perceive the art on display “challenging.”
Second year Visual Art student Stacey Tilton agrees that the signs are helpful in this setting.
“I think they [the signs] have a wonderful statement. I think the viewers need to be a tinge more educated about what they’re getting themselves into. This is the art department, this is the art building, where life drawing classes are taking place. Why not be able to display that?” Tilton said.
One of the factors mentioned by UW art students is that the Visual Arts building is a “safe space” for art and the messages the art wants to get across.
“I think art is one of the few forums where we are allowed to touch on topics that would not be broadly welcome or socially accepted, and it [the Visual Arts building] is one of the few places where we can look at touchy subjects that we feel need to be addressed,” Tilton said.
Public perception is important to the students.
“As an artist, it is my responsibility to listen to what the community is having to say because if I’m not doing art for the community, then what am I doing art for? Educating the community, doing outreach programs, it would be very easy to have classes about the provocative art to educate them about it,” Tilton said.
