EWU student’s painting – ‘Samson’ – stolen

CHENEY – A painting depicting Samson pushing down the pillars in the temple was stolen from an art room on the campus of Eastern Washington University, and a $200 reward is being offered for its safe return.

Beau Ferderer, 19, said he left the painting in the room stapled to a large board the night before the final exams at the end of the fall quarter. He said the painting was finished and had already been graded by his teacher.

The next day, it was gone.

“I didn’t really know what to do,” Ferderer said.

The painting, which is approximately 3 feet by 5 feet, took Ferderer a few weeks to paint. After all of his hard work, he made sure he talked to his teacher and the head of the department when it was stolen. There are no surveillance cameras in the building.

Ferderer put up fliers around campus that included a photo of the picture taken from his cell phone. So far, no one has reported seeing it.

His mother, Val Ferderer, said Beau had planned on giving the painting to his father, Craig, who is a pastor at Northview Bible Church. The piece was going to hang in the church office.

“Something about artwork,” his mother said. “To me, it represents a piece of my son.”

Beau said he hasn’t filed a police report. He said that in the time before his painting was taken, many art supplies had gone missing as well.

His teacher, Lanny Devuono, agreed that supplies often turn up missing. She’s been at the school since 1991 and said Beau’s is the first painting to be stolen from the art building. “Mostly, our students lock things up,” she said about artwork and supplies in the building.

Devuono found it curious that a painting that depicted a religious scene would be stolen from the room, since whoever took it probably understood the scene and liked it. She said that since this incident, the teachers have been talking to the students about community, trust, caring for the students around them, as well as the importance of locking their supplies in their lockers.

Beau Ferderer said he doesn’t plan on leaving any more work in the art room, which is open many hours during the day for students to use. He hopes to get the painting back, but is philosophical about the thief.

“If not, I hope whoever has it is enjoying it,” he said.

The family is offering a $200 reward, no questions asked, for the return of the painting. If you have seen it, call 230-4202.