Written By: Brian Lombardi
Most people keep doodling confined to the margins of a notebook. However, there’s a student at Fitchburg State that spends their downtime sketching on little squares of paper. This unknown person leaves behind drawings around several locations in the North Street Bistro of the Hammond building. These drawings usually tap into nostalgia with various portraits of cartoon characters, each with a quote from their original source.
“I never made a mistake in my life. I thought I did once, but I was wrong,” is written next to Lucy Van Pelt from Charlie Brown. The lines chosen are usually amusing, and sometimes even inspirational, but always appropriate for the day.
Every couple days an employee of the Bistro finds one of these table top gifts and hands them over to the front desk, where they get displayed on the cabinet. It has been deemed “The Art Wall.”
It has a strange presence, like the Monolith from Space Odyssey. Myriads of children sneak around the desk to look in awe at their favorite characters. Why children are frequenting the campus center is another question entirely, but they love to see it when they can. Most of the sketches are shaded in with pencil, but a few pop out of their dimension with color.
Each photo has “Keep this! From your neighborhood artist!” scribbled in the corner, and the date on which they were created. Over the last two semesters, the wall has featured characters from Ed, Edd, and Eddy, Powerpuff Girls, Scooby Doo, Space Jam, various superheroes, and some Disney movies. Seeing a new picture hung up is a simple yet much-needed pleasantry as the semester rolls on.
Sometimes a little bit of character is more than comforting than a grander thought piece. With the Visions gallery opening for the end of the semester, it’s nice to know something as simple as a doodle has been on exhibition all year long.