by Rivkela Brodsky
Daily Lobo
The student gallery in the SUB will be replaced with a gym in the fall.
Walt Miller, director of the SUB, said nothing is official yet and they are meeting with the association this week.
But ASUNM president Kevin Stevenson said it's happening, and student fees are paying for the equipment.
The Student Fee Review Board recommended $100,000 to the project, which works out to about 50 cents per student for the gym in the SUB, Stevenson said.
A fee increase was approved by the regents at their April 12 meeting.
The Art Student Association, however, had not been informed of any of this.
"They did not inform us, and they still have not informed us," said Colin Gabriel, director of the association.
During their meeting Monday, they discussed plans for the gallery.
Four members at the meeting said they had only heard rumors and were told by SUB directors there was a proposal for the gallery.
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They said people from Recreational Services were in the gallery making plans for the gym, and they overheard.
"Why would they put a weight lifting room in there when there's Johnson Center right over there?" Gabriel said.
He said not having a gallery will alienate two-thirds of the art community.
The association will receive wall space on the third floor, Stevenson said.
"Walls are not exactly a gallery," Gabriel said.
Stevenson said ASUNM and Recreational Services have been working on the project for a year and a half.
He said the idea came out of student complaints about recreational workout hours at Johnson Center.
The SUB fitness center would be open from 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. during the week.
Miller said Johnson Center couldn't provide enough recreational hours to students because the building is an education building first. He said the College of Education gets first priority use of the building.
David Steel, chair of the SUB board, said the gym will meet the needs of a lot more students.
"There's a need for students to have more workout time," he said.
He said Recreational Services came to them with the idea last fall and the board approved it in February.
"One space that was not used enough was the ASA Gallery," he said.
Gabriel said the gallery gets more foot traffic than any gallery in the city. He said about 70 people attended an opening last week.
Miller said no organization is guaranteed space in the SUB.
"No organization has exclusive space rights," he said. "ASA does not have that space specifically."
Gabriel said the Art Student Association had to fight for the space when the SUB was built. There was a gallery in the old SUB, but no gallery was incorporated into the new SUB.
The space the association uses was supposed to be a study area and is called the Quiet Lounge.
"It's not really the ASA gallery," Steele said. "It's the Quiet Lounge. The SUB is letting them use it."
Stevenson said the SUB board decided a gym was a better use of space.
Miller said the SUB board encourages artwork throughout the building, and student artwork is often displayed in the building and outside.
Gabriel said the gallery allows students to curate an exhibit and allows for more mediums.
"It really destroys undergraduates' ability to show work," he said.
ASA has collected more than 200 signatures on a petition started Friday.
The association and the SUB directors are meeting this week.
