Vandals break into locked studio at WSU, destroy art supplies

Melinda Sudbrink cried when she saw her art studio Thursday.

Thousands of dollars of supplies were either stolen or destroyed, strewn about the room or squeezed out onto the floor of her McKnight Art Center studio at Wichita State University, she said.

Large canvasses were slashed, sketchbooks were ripped up, her prized watercolor brush collection was dipped in glue and 30 to 40 Micron pens were missing.

The only clues as to the culprits: a hastily painted sign reading “Deena + Neeta” and a heart-eyes emoji painted with her own materials.

“I walked in and I just started bawling,” said Sudbrink, a recent graduate of the Wichita State University art program who was using the studio through December. “I probably could go back today and find even more stuff that’s gone.”

According to a Wichita State University police report, the burglary/theft possibly occurred Monday night. The case is under investigation, according to the report.

Sudbrink said custodial staff at the university “ran off” four teenage girls that were found in the studio area earlier this week.

The McKnight art studios are behind a door secured by a keypad. Adjacent to the studios is a large drying room with metal bars separating the drying racks.

Sudbrink said police told her they think one of the culprits may have squeezed between the metal bars and then opened the locked door from the inside.

“They think because my studio was kind of back and hidden, that’s how they were able to destroy so much of my stuff,” Sudbrink said. “The custodial staff reported she had seen them the last day or two days, and she doesn’t usually get there until 1 or 2 in the afternoon. For her to see them during the day, to have caught them during the day, I think it makes it even worse.”

There are multiple private studios inside the locked room, and other artists had their property stolen/destroyed as well, Sudbrink said.

She estimates the value of her stolen property to be “thousands of dollars.” She collected the supplies over multiple years, picking up brushes and canvasses when they were on sale, she said.

After combing through Dumpsters and driving through nearby neighborhoods looking for her stuff, Sudbrink said she now just hopes “that maybe someone will notice these girls magically having all these fancy-looking paints.”

“Just the level of disrespect to other people’s things ... I just can’t believe it,” Sudbrink said. “Usually when you hear about a kid vandalizing, they’ve keyed a car or busted out a window, but they actually went in and made themselves at home, painted pictures and even left some canvasses behind.”

A GoFundMe fundraiser has been created to help Sudbrink replace her destroyed art supplies. To donate, visit www.gofundme.com/melindas-art-supplies.

This story was originally published August 18, 2017 at 2:03 PM with the headline "Vandals break into locked studio at WSU, destroy art supplies."