With construction underway throughout the El Camino campus, one aspect seems to be absent: art.

Despite the effort to update the campus through modern industrial buildings, new structures such as the Humanities, ITEC and MBA buildings lack the creativity that the students and faculty of El Camino bring to the community.

With an extensive art department and hundreds of art students, El Camino has more than enough resources to commission more public art on campus. With new buildings slowly being finished, new blank canvases are becoming available as well.

The school has seen murals commissioned before, most recently the one currently being painted in the East Lounge of the Student Activities Center.

Art creates a more inclusionary atmosphere on campus. Overall, morale is boosted when the campus is more attractive and art students feel more confident that their art is displayed and that their school is investing in art.

In an article published by Atlantic entitled “Why Do Colleges Have So Much Art?” art reporter Jacoba Urist claims that campus museums and art exhibits have become “art-tourist” destinations.

In today’s social media-centric culture, murals have become a destination for photo-ops around the world. The “Pink Wall,” a wall on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood on the side of a clothing store that is merely painted a bright shade of pink attracts thousands of tourists every year.

The famous angel wings that are rampant throughout major cities also attract thousands of people wanting to transform into celestial beings for a quick Instagram photo.

EC could, in theory, kill two birds with one stone. With extensive planning and work with the various artists on campus, EC could beautify the campus and attract new enrollment through students posting photos of themselves in front of the new art.

The campus and library art galleries display a great amount of talented students’ art, however, the campus is in desperate need of publicly visible art.

With the correct alotment of funding, EC has the opportunity of being one of most attractive campuses in the area, instead of filling the school with gray walls.

It is time for EC to utilize its resources and embrace the creative community that is on campus everyday.