Art Studio Contention

So, I put in 40+ hours on Senior Show last week. I had no more than 4 hours left to finish my first piece and since it was 5 in the morning on Sunday, I figured I would go home and finish it after church. At 3:30 I get a text from Jake saying that he and Tesha (a fellow Senior Show artist) just got kicked out of Tucson House (the studio). Security said that Professor Himes did not want any students in the Tucson on Sundays in observance of the Sabbath.

I'm sitting in Relief Society furious. The two people sitting next to me are also art majors who were anticipating going to the studio after church. Two of us resolve to go talk to Professor Himes, Bishop Himes, after the meeting. He basically just tells us that that's the way it is. No, that is not where it is ending and I knew it as I said okay and walked away. This. Isn't. Over.

Instead of peacefully creating in the Studio after church I and sitting at home ranting to Jake about how stupid it is that the studio is closed. Not only am I upset that I couldn't paint, but I was 4 hours away from finishing my first piece... which would have felt epic, and I would have been able to start my second one today. There is no reason the studio should be closed. No one has to work there, so it's not breaking the Sabbath that way (but the cafeteria is open with paid employees if anyone doesn't want to cook their Sunday meal). And when it comes down to it, if students want to paint on Sunday, they're going to paint, it just won't be in the studio. Besides, that should be a PERSONAL decision... where is the agency? Is the school going to start turning off the internet on Sundays to prohibit students from surfing the internet and getting on Facebook? I said to Himes that it doesn't hurt anyone or anything to have the Studio open. Painting, or any other fine art, is not a sin! It is a reverent activity! I told Professor Himes some of these things when he talked to me, but honestly, I don't think he really cared. I sort of felt like he was going through the motions of making a compromise and exploring student opinions, but I did not feel like he had any intention of changing his mind. When I told him that it didn't bother anyone to leave the Studio open he said it bothered him, which bothered me. I'm not sure why he is so concerned about it. He doesn't have to go to the studio, he doesn't live next door... He gets to go home to a FAMILY and spend the Sabbath with them. As far as my Sabbath day options, going to the Studio is the more reverent of them. He even asked me if it wasn't enough to have the Studio open the other six days of the week and I said yes, yes it would... If I wasn't a double major, and worked, and had other things to do that I don't feel is reverent enough for a Sunday. And most art majors are double majors.

I love Tucson House. It's my favorite place to be. But if I have to move out to work and to make a point, then I guess I will, and so will a lot of students. Hopefully this gets resolved soon. And I better be able to create on Sunday.

Currently Listening to: My Heart, Your Hands by Dommin