Every year, Williams Art Loan for Living Spaces (WALLS) is a much-anticipated campus event. Students eagerly line up hours in advance to snag their favorite pieces of artwork to hang on display for the semester.
As with any line, there’s bound to be someone who tries to outwit the wait. This year, as many of my Divison 3 classmates likely slept soundly in their beds, those braving the overnight WALLS line like myself experienced a series of memorable — and questionable — maneuvers. Here’s a recap of three unforgettable examples of line-cutting ingenuity that unfolded during this year’s art-loaning event.
It started innocently enough. The line began to form behind a series of tents. Some line-goers reported bathroom breaks that stretched for hours, while others cleverly set up tents Saturday evening only to disappear for some classic Hoxsey debauchery. Honestly, I respect the hustle of setting up camp and then heading off for a night on the town. If I’d had a bit of liquid courage myself, maybe I wouldn’t have felt the cold quite so much during those long hours.
In what can only be described as a masterclass in teamwork and friendship, some groups of friends entered the line at staggered intervals. Some joined the queue early, staking out a prime position. Then, gradually, their friends drifted over, with casual “Oh, you’re here too?” greetings. Before long, students, who earlier had accepted spots at the end of line, were taking bibs within the top 10 after discovering they had friends further up in line.
One may think to themselves that these people would’ve survived the eight hours without cutting to join their friends, or even suggest that if they wanted to be together so much, they could have all moved to the back. But let’s be honest — no friendship is worth sacrificing a top WALLS pick.
The most ambitious (or egregious) method to escape the wait was the use of placeholders. Metal WCMA chairs with objects such as backpacks and stuffed animals were left as surrogates for their owners. Some of these owners waited until after 7 a.m. to reclaim their spots in line. While the students rested peacefully in their dorms, their placeholders endured the arduous task of braving the rain and frigid temperatures along with other WALLS hopefuls.
At the end of the day, WALLS is about sharing a love of art — and a small dose of trauma bonding with fellow line-goers. On that note, I would like to acknowledge that I am an unreliable narrator (you try lying outside for nine hours and maintaining your sanity), but seeing as these events did occur, it may be nice for us as a student body to collectively agree upon what constitutes cutting.
And this issue isn’t limited to WALLS. Similar stories have cropped up at Goodrich boba nights as well. While some students may have taken creative liberties with the queue this year, it all added to the charm of an event that’s as much about the people as it is about the paintings. After all, what’s a long line without a few entertaining antics?
Hopefully, next semester, students will think twice before cutting because at the end of the day, we’re all in this together. And if you still decide to cut, I am not above writing another Record article about it.
Jordanne Brazie ’25 is an astrophysics major from Stephentown, N.Y.
