Go figure: No more nudes

The University of Oregon’s mascot, the Duck himself, might walk around half-naked, but there will be no more free weekly figure drawing classes open to the public involving nude models at the UO after this Saturday’s session.

A lack of funding and concerns about safety for the nude models are behind the decision, according to a letter provided Tuesday by the UO’s School of Architecture and Allied Arts, written by acting dean Brook Muller to participants of the long-running weekly drawing sessions.

“As these sessions have increased in prominence, they have had the unfortunate consequence of drawing unwanted attention to the fact that nude models can be found on the UO campus in an unstructured and unmonitored environment,” Muller wrote.

Also, because of budgetary limitations, “we are unable to put more resources into an unfunded community offering, and therefore cannot provide the participants with the appropriate level of security that would allow us to continue the sessions,” Muller wrote.

But several people who have long been involved with what is known as the Saturday Figure Drawing Group, which has run in its current configuration since the mid-1990s, say they are unaware of any such problems.

“Figure drawing is a very mild activity,” said Will Mitchell, a local artist and the group’s volunteer coordinator for the past year. “Kind of slow and quiet. So I haven’t yet found out what the safety concerns are.”

Mitchell said he was told in a meeting last week with art department head Carla Bengtson that the group was being canceled and the last session would be Saturday.

Mitchell said Bengtson expressed concerns about liability, and that the general public might regard nude models as being “exhibitionist” or that artists at the sessions might behave inappropriately.

Muller did not respond to a phone call or email Tuesday seeking further comment, and Bengtson’s automatic email reply said she is out of the office until next week.

Rocco Luiere, the school’s associate dean for finance, forwarded Muller’s letter and said in an email: “We don’t have much more to say on the subject beyond what we have already publicly communicated.”

Figure drawing classes with nude models, some of whom also model during the free Saturday sessions, are still part of the School of Architecture and Allied Arts’ regular weekday curriculum for enrolled UO students. Those classes aren’t open to the general public, however.

About 30 to 35 people regularly show up to draw a single nude model on Saturdays, Mitchell said. The models are paid $15 an hour and get five hours’ pay for a three-hour session because it’s time-and-a-half pay on weekends, he said.

Mitchell said he told Bengtson he is certain that the participating artists would be willing to donate funds to pay the models and to cover other costs if need be.

“It’s a shame. It just blows me away,” said local artist Farley Craig, who has been attending the sessions regularly for about five years. “The level of interest from the community was really amazing.

“I’ve never seen a model be threatened by that group,” said Craig, who wrote a personal email to Muller on Monday protesting the sittings’ discontinuation.

“Without those sessions I would have never found what I find so much enrichment from,” he wrote. “I sometimes sell work, but not often, and most of my income comes from a small grocery job I have here in Eugene. I live to work. And it is, at times, the only thing that saves me.”

Alida Bevirt, who has modeled for the group since last fall, said she has never had a problem with any artist or felt unsafe. She first modeled in November after that day’s scheduled model did not show, she said.

“It’s always such a welcoming, friendly community,” said Bevirt, 25, who also is an artist. “It’s a creative process, and you get to be a part of someone else’s work of art. It’s just really sad to me. I just don’t like the idea that the UO would block figurative drawing.”

Added model Lindsey Belleau, 27: “I’d have to say that group helped me become a person who realizes how safe I am. It really inspires a person like me, who can’t draw. It’s a group of people who get together doing what they love. And they’re so respectful of each other.

“To see this thing shut down, for me, personally, is a tragedy because it’s (provided) such growth for me.”

Muller wrote in her letter that the school believes “the practice of studying the nude figure has tremendous value and purpose in the creation of art and the development of artistic ability … we continue to encourage both our students and our community members to seek out and participate in these types of sessions.”

Muller identified the Maude Kerns Art Center, MECCA and the WaterShed as among the nonprofit art centers where community members can pursue such offerings.

“This was a difficult decision for us to make,” Muller said about ending the on-campus Saturday event. “However, we feel it is our obligation to put the safety of our participants before all other considerations, and we are therefore discontinuing the sessions.”

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