On April 17, Vaquero Radio released a story titled “Art Students Cry Out Are We Vaqueros or Rats?”. Four months have passed since then and with the Fall semester beginning. It is on the student’s minds to find out what has changed since then.
Rusteberg Hall is the building that houses the art department for the UTRGV Brownsville campus. Texas Southmost College (TSC) leases the space, which is why officials claim to be the main reason it has been so difficult to make big changes in the building.
It has already been well documented through Vaquero Radio along with other media outlets on how the students feel towards the issues in Rusteberg Hall. Dean of the College of Fine Arts Jeffrey Ward discussed how he feels towards the current state of the art building.
“Oh, it’s intolerable. I mean, our students and our faculty should not be working in those conditions. And I think we’re all in agreement with that,” Ward said. “And, you know, with a building this old and it’s that that’s an ongoing maintenance issue that we will continue to identify problems and then communicate them to our TSC partners and work together with them to address those issues. So the short answer is, no, our students should not be, and our faculty should not be working in this kind of environment. It not only is a health concern, but it also inhibits their ability to create, inhibits their educational opportunities. And that’s not that’s not tolerable to me or to any of our leadership in the university,”
He said along with the other officials in charge of running the school of art and design, they are listening to the students and staff’s concerns.
“My message for our students has been, ‘You’re heard’. I know I can speak personally but Dr. Arney has shared this with me as well. We take these concerns to heart and we want to fix them as quickly and as sustainably as possible.” Ward said. “And so that’s why we’ve looked at this from both a short term and a long term approach. But, you know, there has never been, and I think I’ve always tried to be as clear with our students as possible that we hear what you’re saying and we want to fix it. There is never, ever a conversation that’s dismissive of these concerns or, you know, there’s never an attitude among any of us that like, well, yeah, I understand you have these issues, but we got to just deal with them. We don’t want them to just deal with it. We want to find solutions.”
Art Junior Annie Snelson is credited in starting this movement of leading the way to fix the issues in the art building after her viral Instagram post showing various unhygienic conditions and damaged, broken equipment.
She said for the most part, the articles and stories that came out four months ago received positive feedback from fellow art students and from students from all kinds of different departments showing support.
There were also negative responses from people saying “to just deal with it” or “to be grateful for what you have”. Snelson said sometimes she wonders if she is just overreacting or if these issues are a big deal, she said that also does not mean that she should stay silent if she feels something is wrong.
“It always goes back to us paying the same amount in tuition as everyone else and being stuck in conditions that we can’t control and that feel really crappy, to be honest.” Snelson said. “So it’s kind of a matter of feeling out of control. I understand why people would say stuff like that, but I also would implore these people to try to walk a year in our shoes, a semester in our shoes, because it’s really disheartening. And I feel like so many artists, young artists in the world, go into the field and are completely shut down by the lack of resources or being shut down by professionals in their lives that aren’t as supportive of the arts.”
Fernanda Gonzalez / Vaquero Radio PhotoFernanda Gonzalez / Vaquero Radio Photo
She said there are many loopholes and time that has to be spent when researching and trying to get in contact with the people who are most responsible for these issues, but she encourages other students to speak out and make the effort to do so, no matter what department they are in.
“I think that’s also why nobody wants to do it, nobody has the time, and I get it but someone has to do it. So, I just hope that people kind of like that. “Snelson said. “People, I guess, become more aware of how to search for who to go to with questions or concerns. I think that’s a large reason why stuff hasn’t been done before, because it’s just such a hoop to jump through to get to someone who can give you an answer. Especially in the university system, it’s just you get referred to so many people that can give you any answers.”
In the first story that was done for Vaquero Radio, School of Art and Design Director Ed Pogue promised that a new computer lab would be functional this fall, and this has been confirmed through Graphic Design Major Luz Rodriguez who will be in charge of running the lab.
An important thing to note is although this lab was much needed, it was not a result of the meeting art students had with art department officials, this was in the plans long before the students’ complaints from months ago.
“We have, as of now, three tablets, new computers, a 3D printer, a scanner and a large format printer.” Rodriguez said. “This wasn’t something that came because of the meeting. Actually, I feel like that’s a misconception a lot of people have. This is something that was in the works for a long time before that meeting actually, and I’m not sure if it helped push it along, but I know that it was something that was planned out beforehand.”
She shared some news that has just come out now regarding the Edinburg art building Metro bus that connects from the main campus.
“They’re planning on cutting down the hours at the metro that runs from the visual arts building in Edinburg to the main campus.” Rodrigez said. “They’re planning on at, not running the metro anymore, and instead giving students vouchers for Ubers to take over to the main campus. My concern with that comes, the safety and security where it’s like the universities putting the safety of their students onto a random person that happens to be qualified to drive a newer. So, I thought that was a little worrisome.”
Studio Art Senior Yental Marquez said not much has changed from her perspective over the last four months and has only seen more damage in certain areas with one being a broken window in the gallery that was apparently caused due to TSC workers mowing the grass and it shot something into the window which has broken since June.
She said the rodent problem is still an issue as well, with it not being as bad as before but is still disappointing to see that it has not been taken care of sooner.
“I have seen TSC step it up, I guess by putting pesticides outside and literally intoxicating the entire air around there.” Marquez said “Like you can’t walk outside without being, gassed by the fumes they’re putting out. But even if they did that, there’s still rats like I sent the photo. There was a rat recently on top of the building and it smelled up, apparently the entire area because it was there for so long and it was huge as well.”
She said that although the blame for the issues is being put on the people in charge such as Dean Jeffrey Ward and the Director Ed Pogue, she believes that Pogue is truly trying to improve the art department.
“I do believe he’s being truthful with what he says because like I haven’t really seen improvement until he got hired in” Marquez said. “And from what the professors have told me that he’s just like he’s a good guy because he actually goes to like the Rusteberg area and is there in person seeing what he can do and what improvements he wants. So I have trust in him, but if it’s been a whole year and still nothing, I would persist more even in a couple months and there’s nothing because at the end of the day we still need the new stuff and the people who are fighting are going to graduate soon,”
Dean of the college of Fine Arts Jeffrey Ward has confirmed that the art department is working diligently to move the department into a building although there is a large process of approvals that would need to take place, but everything works accordingly then the new building should be ready by the summer of 2025.
