Recyclable wood pallets, some scrap steel and roofing tin make up the giant paint brush in the courtyard outside the Speech building.
It’s become a beloved and significant landmark on the Texas A&M University-Kingsville campus, but soon it will be relocated.
Arrangements regarding the relocation of the paint brush are set to take place before the inauguration of Dr. Mark Hussey on April 25.
The paint brush will be relocated to the grassy area between Manning and Nierman halls because of cosmetic and aesthetic reasons.
“It was always temporary. We don’t have a problem moving it,” Todd Lucas, chair of the department of Arts, Communications and Theatre, said.
After hearing the news students took to social media voicing their opinions against the extraction of the paint brush.
“It should be restored and left there, it’s a symbol that sits right between all the arts and to take that away it sort of sucks. To me it feels like it was a way to represent the art, speech, drama and music departments,” Sarah Lindsay wrote.
More than a dozen students supported Lindsay’s stance and posted similar comments with only a couple opposing opinions.
Even “The Tea,” one of university’s radio shows hosted by Etta Enow and Troy Sanchez, joked about the directional consequences students will face if the paint brush is removed.
An advanced sculpture class headed by Lucas constructed the paint brush in Fall 2015 as a group project. The idea of a paint brush was devised by one of the students, Berlin Perez.
It was forged as a temporary sculpture that would be replaced with a new project every few semesters.
Because of the cancellation of classes, the rotation of art projects was halted, and the paint brush remained.
Ashley Navarro, a graphic designer for the marketing department at TAMUK, is one of the former students who was in the advanced sculpture class that constructed the paint brush.
Navarro is sad to see the piece removed and placed elsewhere but loves that during these four years it has impacted so many students.
“It was never meant to last. That’s the beauty of these projects, they are meant to get worn out. There’s a kind of beauty to the certain class of Javelinas that was able to say, ‘That’s by the paint brush.’
“There’s only a few select Javelinas who will know what that means and having something replace it whether it be a new project that an artist comes out with or another group project that they decide to do would be cool. It’s a tradition that I feel should continue. And it’ll teach people about the art of letting go,” Navarro said.
During Spring Break, Lucas gave his daughter Finnegan, bright fuchsia flowers and watched as she played outside in the campus courtyard.
Today the paint brush is aged, dull, and slightly tilted but her flowers rest atop the paint brush mirroring a heartfelt gesture and the end of something.
“It’s had its time. All good things must come to an end,” Navarro said.
