On the brick wall in purple marker: “I met the nicest boy in town, but I want to marry a man.”

“Mormonism is the craziest crack of BS I have ever heard in my life!” Response: “What about Scientology?” Another response: “What do you even know about Mormonism?”

In pencil, on a stall wall: “I do not believe in soul mates. Make the most out of relationships you have!”

“I wish I could get an A in Art History.” Response, in blue pen: “Maybe you should study.”

In black permanent marker: “Okay — so I’m totally in love.”

“He should be mine, but he belongs to another.” Response: “Well, he’s probably an asshole.”

“I want to be anywhere but here!” Response, in pencil: “You must not have to pee too badly, then.”

On a stall door, in thin green pen: “I’m afraid of not living up to my own standards.”

“I am having an affair with a married man. He just left her for me!” Response: “And he’ll prob[ably] leave you for someone else. Once a cheater always a cheater.” The response: “Life is not that black and white.”

Sideways, on a stall wall: “Sometimes it seems like there’s so much beauty in the world it hurts.” Response, in big, scratchy letters: “Shut up.”

In blue permanent marker: “Who is the modern woman?” Response: “She is … me.”

It’s on the mirrors. It’s on the posters. It’s on the stalls. It’s on the walls. Graffiti is everywhere — and in excess — in the women’s restroom in the basement of the Art Building next to Parnassus Café. Sit down on the toilet and discover even more places where women have scribbled their innermost thoughts, confessions, advice, support, reminders, inquisitions, opinions, poems, lists and other randomness.

“It’s unlike any graffiti I’ve ever seen in a restroom,” said Alexandra Berg, a junior majoring in business. “It [is] an interesting form of expression. It makes me think.”

Sophomore Lauren Salcedo admits she will go out of her way to use the restroom in the basement of the Art Building.

“I love that restroom,” she said. “The graffiti in there is amazing. And there’s always something new to read.”

She isn’t the only one who thinks so. Etched in black pen on a stall door is a similar sentiment: “I love reading this door.”

Irina Gendelman, a communication graduate student studying restroom graffiti on campus, said the Art Building is the most prolific in terms of graffiti.

“I think it kind of reflects the place,” Gendelman said. “I think people in the art building are more comfortable with drawing and writing on things. Out of all the buildings on campus, it’s probably the most appropriate because it is the art building. It’s supposed to be a place where people are a little more unconventional.”

And graffiti triggers more graffiti, Gendelman said.

“Other [women] who wouldn’t normally write on the walls may think it’s okay to do because there’s already this chatter going on,” she said. “Probably why there’s so much graffiti in that one bathroom is because it hasn’t been painted over in awhile. It seems less sacred, in a way. They don’t feel like they’re ruining something, just joining in on the conversation.”

Not only that, Gendelman said, but the concept of bathroom stalls is also an invitation for graffiti.

“It’s a place that’s private, like a journal or something where you could just doodle, but then it’s also a public place. It’s an interesting space where you can anonymously express yourself and still have people read it.”

Alicia Caulfield, a junior majoring in art, thinks there’s a definite correlation between the amount and variety of graffiti in the particular women’s restroom and its location in the art building.

“You’re going to [find] the more expressive people in the art building,” Caulfield said. “For sure, they’re more creative. And they always think they have something to say, whether it’s in their art or in a message on a bathroom stall.”

“It’s probably the [women] that are here all night working on their projects,” she added. “That’s the only bathroom to go to down here.”

The graffiti in the Art Building is most likely put there by art students. So is the graffiti art or vandalism?

Gendelman thinks the restroom graffiti can be considered art. Art is a form of expression, and women are definitely expressing themselves in the graffiti they write, she said.

“There is graffiti that’s art,” Gendelman said. “Then there’s graffiti that’s crap and then there’s graffiti that’s vandalism. I don’t think you can lump it all in one category.”

Caulfield, however, wouldn’t call the bathroom graffiti art.

“I wouldn’t call it vandalism either, just because it is in the art building,” she said. “It’s personality.”

Becky Campos, a senior art major, disagrees.

“It’s more like vandalism because it’s just writing,” Campos said. “Words can be art, I guess. But writing, ‘What is your favorite color?’ and then having people respond to that isn’t art.”

Graffiti is slowly being embraced by the art world, Gendelman said. “It’s become this fascinating thing where art and vandalism, excitement and danger meet.”

Anonymously, other women join in on the debate. Next to the toilet paper dispenser in red pen: “There is no such thing as art.” Response: “Art is anything you can get away with.”