However, this year Art Squatters will not be able to use the same space to store paints due to fire hazard concerns. “The landlord [of Tommy’s Value], Janet, decided that we shouldn’t keep any more paints where we had stored them last year due to fire hazards,” Gogel says

Art Squatters hope that the new owner of Tommy’s Value, whom the group will meet this week, will allow paints to be stored in a locked area of the basement, according to Gogel.

Tash Chamal, who works at Tommy’s Value, agrees that the relationship between the store and the Art Squatters is a good one and says the Art Squatters are “very friendly.” When prodded for his favorite painted tile, he jumps from his cashier counter and slips through the back door to take a better look.

“There are some funny ones,” says Chamal with a big grin. “Like that elephant one. What’s the point?”

Some students, and not just those in Art Squatters, agree that the compatibility between Art Squatters and Tommy’s is apparent. John P. Blickstead ’06 looks out the Adams Dining Hall window at the murals across the street and sees what to him is a match between the murals and the community.

“I like them there, perfect complement to the perfect pizza,” says Blickstead. “Inside, the taste is explosive and outside, the colors are explosive.”

—Staff writer Yingzhen Zhang can be reached at zhang9@fas.harvard.edu.