“Big Bunny” removed from library in breach of library security

Allison Augustyn

The morning after Celebrate! left discarded food, trampled grass, and remnants of a large, fluffy bunny in the front of Plantz Hall.The rabbit, a student art project created by art major Jamie Lee, had been installed in the first floor of the library, but was discovered, partially assembled on the Plantz Hall lawn, by head librarian Susan Richards and her husband Professor Myers.

Security arrived at Plantz shortly thereafter to help dissemble the rabbit and return the pieces to Lee. The rabbit’s head and ears were found in the entry way of the library.

Security currently has no lead as to how the rabbit was removed from the library or who was involved in dissembling the art work. The bunny was in the library and intact when the library was closed by security.

Said Lee with a laugh, “I had a hard time getting it in, and I’m amazed that they even got it out.”

Lee was surprised to hear from her roommate that the rabbit had been taken down, but not too surprised.

“Up until now I got a great response. Even if people didn’t like the piece, they were good about their response to [Big Bunny]. I guess I didn’t expect that people would do something to it, but in a way, it was a humorous piece and [the culprits] didn’t want to destroy it, just move it, so I’m not really as angry as other people are about this,” said Lee.

Though Lee isn’t necessarily angry about the removal of the rabbit, she is disappointed in Lawrence students. “I think that people don’t realize the time spent going into the work. Even though my work is humorous, people should still respect that it is art,” said Lee.

Lee has not been deterred by this act, however, and has recently completed a new work that she feels is successful and hopes to share with the Lawrence community. “I feel that I’ve made progress even since Big Bunny. I hope that [art students] can continue to display our work around campus,” said Lee.