by Ezekiel Siegrist, staff writer
A statue called “Breathe” by Joan Benefiel was damaged at the PPSC downtown campus and has since been removed from the display.
Associate Dean of Arts and Social Sciences, Benjy Davies says “I have heard several rumors that the cracks and leaning of the sculpture were due to vandalism, but I cannot track down any specifics. I have not been able to find any eye-witnesses or any police reporting. It is unclear what happened, when, or who.”
The lack of information could potentially be traced back to no one noticing or feeling the need to contact campus police. Chief of Police, Jim Barrentine says “Unfortunately, no one ever contacted Campus Police about damage to the statue. . . There has been some talk about vandalism however, to my knowledge that has not been determined.”
Due to minimal contact provided by the student body to campus authorities, there is little to be noted involving matters on why this happened, or who may have caused it to happen.
What is known however is that the statue has been taken away and is not currently undergoing repairs. As Davies says, “we contracted with Sandy to repair the damage (if possible). In the process of preparing the sculpture for repair, it cracked further. At this point, we felt it was a safety concern and the sculpture was removed to a storage area until we can decide what the next steps are.”
