 "Photo: Elizabeth Hladky\Volante")
It's getting paid to take your clothes off, except for a much nobler cause.
Nude models have posed for drawing classes in USD's art department the past three decades. Although most students might not do it for all the money in the world, these models settle for a small sum, and more importantly, a unique experience they will never forget.
John Day, dean of the College of Fine Arts, said nude modeling is a traditional aspect of art that allows students the opportunity to get a realistic visual experience of the human body.
"Nude modeling has gone on at USD for the last 30 years. It has been in the world since the Renaissance and started in the antiquity, some 500 years ago," Day said. "We are just like the medical school with anatomy — they view the body from the inside, we view it from the outside."
Day said nude models are generally paid $10 to $15 an hour for a three-hour studio session, but financial constraints usually make the demand for nude models "infrequent."
One thing the College of Fine Arts does not need to spend money on is recruiting nude models. Day said the models approach them with interest, and those interests vary in many different aspects.
Terri Meadows, a junior theatre and contemporary media and journalism major, said she took on nude modeling to improve her stage skills.
"I figured if I could model nude in front of an entire class of art students, then there isn't much of anything I couldn't do on stage," she said.
Meadows has modeled nude twice and said even someone with a lot of confidence can easily get nervous.
"The biggest challenge was the moment right before I took my robe off," she said. "There were so many people that even being a confident person, your insecurities come out of nowhere."
USD junior theatre major Jennifer Edwards also looked to improve her theatre by modeling nude, but wanted to experience nude drawing from the "other side."
Once an art major, she took a drawing class where she drew nude sketches. She said switching roles and participating as a model herself allowed her to gain a new perspective and become more comfortable with her body.
Edwards said the biggest challenge was the relationships she had with members of the drawing class.
"The hardest thing was knowing the students on a personal level. I would go on breaks with them and see them in my classes," she said.
Even for the most experienced of nude models, the task of undressing in front of a group of fellow college students can be unnerving.
USD senior Sam Williams has modeled nude more than 30 times for the art department but said there are still challenges.
"The hardest challenge I have had has been to stay still and give the artists something to draw," he said.
Williams said a plus for him is to see the artists' final products and how they vary.
"It's cool to meet people and see how they draw you in different styles," he said.
The art department provides the opportunity for students to draw nude models in Drawing 1, 2 and 4.
12 comments
drawing skills can be honed just as well, by drawing clothed people, cars, airplanes, animals, sandcastles, farmyards etc.
life drawing classes and groups are all about getting some t and a.
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get yourself an mfa, a subsequent teaching job at an art college and voila, you are entitled to "professionally justified" t and a.
i have been anaked model at 8 different institutions with over 100 instructors and it never amazes me how we are profiled by them as well as the students and don't forget the general public.
naked models are considered and treated as barely a step above prostitutes.
the pay is scandalously low.....if you are interested in the experiences and observations of a naked male model,check out my blog at www.themodelundraped.blogspot.com