Leicester Uni has spent £148,000 on artwork in the last five years

Leicester University has reportedly splurged £148,000 on artwork between 2010-2015.

A BBC investigation has found that Universities across England have spent a whopping £20m to pimp up the institutions with works of art.

It was added that universities are prioritising “style over substance”. But hey, at least when we’re crying over our £27,000 debt in tuition fees we’ll be crying in a room filled with paint covered canvases that’d probably be able to pay off that debt in one sale. Isn’t that reassuring?

With that in mind we set off around campus to find the best uses of the £150k.

Ahoy, captain

Now, obviously this isn’t one of the artful investments that the BBC investigation is referring to. But how can we explore the creative and edgy demeanor of Leicester campus, without drawing attention to the beautiful creation that is the Engineering Building?

In a contemporary and imaginative bid to fully entice those budding engineers into their studies, the building was modelled to look like a ship by James Stirling in 1963. It’s revered as one of the 50 most inspiring buildings in Britain, and aren’t we proud.

Apparently the glass is it’s distinguishing feature, but I retain the belief that beauty remains on the inside.

At least you tried

Nevertheless, Leicester clearly has an arty and stylish image to uphold- and boy, they’ve tried. £148,000 of trying to be precise.

We discovered this little contemporary number in the SU. And found ourselves intrigued by its mysterious blue and orange-blobbed attraction. Is it a sunset? Is it a few wipes of paint on a canvas? Who knows, but Leicester sure does know how to keep its students invigorated:

Can’t tame this wild piece

You know Attenborough Tower for it’s concrete charm and, of course, the paternoster. But its edgy character is displayed through the array of random paintings mounted on the walls alongside the stairs.

University is for studying, but Attenborough knows if you work hard, you play hard too. And this jazzy addition to the building screams wise advice towards our dedicated studies- ‘prove it then you can groove it’ or ‘2:1 then fun’:

Psychedelic, man

As our fees are going towards such displays, it’s only fair that we feature in them.

Here’s a portrait of you. Your studious LinkedIn profile picture, or a tagged photo on Facebook to fool your parents into believing you’ve actually got your shit together at Uni:

He’ll be at Shabang tonight

A portrait of Vicky Park, and the demons that are the slippery leaves of death:

‘The tears of student life’:

Cryin’ over deadlines

The stacks of reading that has become the bane of your life, or cubes of dark chocolate. Either way, immense disappointment comes with both:

This is only a small sample of what Leicester’s extravagant art investments have to offer, but is it really worth £148,000? Come on, Leicester. Step it up a bit.

A spokeswoman from Unison, the UK’s largest public service union, said: “Unison is appalled that universities can think about investing £20m in works of art when a significant number of institutions still pay their employees significantly less than the living wage.

She added: “during these austere times, universities are choosing style over substance.”

And I’m not even sure Leicester has chosen the ‘style’ very well.