Northwestern Univ. sez cover Sistine Chapel copy
PUSSSYKATT
BY SUSAN DODGE SUBURBAN REPORTER
Michelangelo spent four years on his back painting his masterpiece on the
ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
Ryan Du Val spent six days this fall standing on chairs and desks painting the
same thing on the ceiling of his dorm room at Northwestern University.
Millions of tourists flock to the Sistine Chapel every year to see the vivid
colors in the newly restored masterpiece.
Dozens of NU students crane their necks in Du Val's dorm room to see the same
scenes, painstakingly re-created with house paint from Home Depot.
But Du Val's art won't last much longer. NU officials said the painted ceiling
is a violation of dorm rules. The university plans to hire painters to repaint
the ceiling off-white in December while students are on winter break.
Du Val and other students in his dorm, Bobb-McCulloch Hall, aren't happy.
``This is something that's constructive, and this is the kind of student the
university should be flaunting,'' said Adi Hermoni, 19, a sophomore and
president of Du Val's dorm. ``It's showing the creativity that is part of a
liberal arts education.''
Du Val, 19, a sophomore with a double major in music and arts and sciences,
said he was inspired to copy Michelangelo's work after visiting the Sistine
Chapel in Rome last summer with his family. He figures that after paying more
than $6,400 in room and board, he should be allowed a little artistic license.
He got the colors just right for his work by printing out Michelangelo's
paintings from the Internet and taping them to the ceiling as he worked.
He painted three of Michelangelo's best-known scenes--the creation of the stars
and planets, the creation of light and darkness and the creation of Adam. In
one scene, the finger of God is pointing at a smoke detector.
Du Val's roommate, Joe Barber, a sophomore electrical engineering major from
Beverly, said the painting has made him appreciate art more.
Barber and Du Val aren't high-brow in their artistic tastes. A disco ball hangs
from their ceiling, and a beer sign and posters line the walls.
NU officials recently told Du Val that the ceiling would have to be repainted,
but they refrained from fining him because of a misunderstanding over the
rules.
Du Val sent University President Henry Bienen an e-mail saying he wanted to be
able to enjoy his artwork for the duration of the school year. Bienen e-mailed
him a terse reply, saying, ``Your ceiling is not the Sistine Chapel, and I
don't find the comments you quoted anything but silly, frankly.''
In past years, students said they were allowed to paint their rooms as long as
they repainted them at the end of the year. But university officials said it
always has been against the rules for students to paint their rooms.
Al Cubbage, a university spokesman, said the university wants to repaint Du
Val's room over the winter break instead of at the end of the year ``to make
sure we get it done.''
So it will be back to a white ceiling for Du Val in late December. Du Val, from
Los Altos, Calif., now looks up at the painting with pride from the top of his
bunk bed.
``I don't know how I'm going to cope with a white ceiling after all this,'' he
said.