A colorful door? At my Notre Dame? Most unorthodox!

Slowly but surely, the Riley art building is becoming my favorite building on campus.

No, it’s not the most beautiful building, or the most architecturally interesting, or the cleanest, or the comfiest, or the best lit – it’s not even really what I’d call charmingly dilapidated.

It’s a very strange building, I guess, is how I’d describe it. Because it needs a lot of large studio spaces for the various art classes, I suppose they had to get creative with the configuration of rooms to make space for the spaces they needed. There are hallways that lead you in circles, doors marked “Emergency Exit Only – Alarm Will Sound” that you’re required to use to get to certain parts of the building, and a mysterious locked door that prevents you from getting to the fourth floor. I think one of the strangest things is that there are certain classrooms that you have to walk through to access other parts of the floor. So sometimes, you’ll be sitting in class, working away at your piece or listening to your professor talk, and someone will just walk through because they’re trying to get to another section of the building.

I’m not sure if it’s artistic, or just really really bad design.

Since I’ve been spending so many late nights in the art building as a) a means of actually trying to get my art homework done and b) a way to get some time to myself, since it’s usually pretty empty at night, I’ve been able to go wandering around to find out what all there is. And the other night, I discovered a new studio in the basement for the installation art classes.

And get this – there’s a painted red door!

You might ask, what’s so off about that? Painted doors are hardly anything to get excited about. But the thing is, it is at this school. For as pretty as Notre Dame is, there are very few rooms, or buildings, or really just any indoor spaces at all that incorporate colors other than neutrals. If I had to describe Notre Dame in a single color, I’d have to go with beige, because I’m pretty sure that’s the color of a solid 3/4 of the buildings here, inside and out.

So yeah, I got excited for the photography possibilities that come with the discovery of this red door. Expect to see it again on this blog.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life at Notre Dame! Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!

Dress: Kohl’s

Jacket: Thrifted