 "Photo: Gideon Oakes")
On the second floor of the art building, a model lays patiently in repose on a platform, arm draped over her head, waiting. Here in the painting studio, amidst the odors of solvents and clatter of adjusted easels, a sliver of the Garden of Eden survives. For the woman is naked, and no one is ashamed.
It's Art 4210: Figure Painting, and class is in session.
Noel Carmack, who teaches the course, said the challenge of learning to depict the human figure is one of the foundational skills of any good art program. The course is required for art students with a painting/drawing emphasis and is intended to strengthen their skills in depiction.
"A lot of people think there are naked people in the classroom, so there has to be something lurid or deviant or underhanded. But it's not that way," Carmack said.
The course uses draped models as well, but undraped models are used more frequently so students can really learn to depict human anatomy.
Jason Hardy, a junior majoring in psychology who models for the class, said the atmosphere is very professional.
"It's art. It's not a peep show," Hardy said. "Everybody who's in the class is there because they are serious about it."
Hardy, the only male model of three and a self-described "free-spirit," said he first got into modeling through a friend who did it. He said it was a little nerve-wracking at first, but he has grown comfortable being undraped in front of strangers.
"I was nervous. I thought, 'Oh God, everybody's going to be staring at my johnson.' But it's not that way at all. A lot of times they focus on one part of your body," Hardy said. "They're not there to critique your body."
Hardy, an Army reservist, said his Army buddies have taken to calling him "The Nude Model," and he's grown completely at ease in the modeling environment.
"Looking at how I started two months ago, I'm definitely a lot more comfortable with my appearance, especially with that group of people. I don't even get nervous anymore, I just go in and know it's time to strip down and drop trou'," Hardy said.
Model Aubrie Zondler, a senior in liberal arts, said she began modeling in response to an ad she saw while taking a ceramics course. She said she had previously joked with her mother about doing it.
"I believe when I told her she laughed and told me I was an exhibitionist. She's OK with it though," Zondler said.
Zondler said for her, the greatest challenge was not baring all, but overcoming her ADHD to sit still for the poses.
"Sometimes there's a position that's hard to hold," Zondler said. "It's not an easy job to just sit there. Parts of your body go numb. Your hand falls asleep."
The models are paid $10 an hour for undraped modeling and $8 an hour for draped. The sessions last about two and a half hours, with breaks so the models can move around.
Hardy said though he went in having no "qualms about getting paid to stand and do nothing," the work is more difficult than he anticipated.
"I actually got into a pose and about 10 minutes in you realize you're not allowed to move. You can't scratch if you have an itch," Hardy said.
Students in the class say the ability to sit still like that, as well as the ability to find good poses, are the two most important qualities in a model.
Adam Roberts, a sophomore in art, said the human figure makes for a challenging subject, and studying it is essential to serious art students. He said he enjoys the class and has quickly grown accustomed to the presence of nude models.
"After you do this for a while, it's kind of weird to say, but a nude body is kind of not special anymore," Roberts said. "You don't even notice her after a while. You're so into what you're doing. It's like you're painting a statue."
Robin Bodily, a senior in art, said learning to depict the human figure will be helpful in her career. She said she hopes to get into fashion and make-up artistry as well as make prosthetic masks for films. She said all those areas require a good understanding of proportion, which working from the figure teaches.
Bodily said the challenge of working with the figure is that the familiarity of the human form makes it harder to depict well.
"Everyone knows what the human body is supposed to look like. If you draw a flower and you do a leaf wrong, everyone just thinks it's a weird flower. But if you're doing a face and you put the nose upside down, everyone's going to know," Bodily said.
Christopher Terry, the professor who used to teach the course, said a mild controversy was generated about 10 years ago when a landscape architecture student, apparently objecting to the display of art depicting nude people on the bulletin board in the hall, took down the pieces and shoved them under the door of the drawing studio. Terry said the department put them back up, and they were taken down again. The incident hasn't stifled the display of such works, however.
"We argued that it was totally appropriate and that we would continue to display our students' art. And we have," Terry said.
Terry said he imagines there are still complaints occasionally, but they never reach him. He said the class was actually much more controversial when he taught at California State Long Beach, where students would request to be excused from taking the class every year.
"That has never happened here," Terry said.
Hardy and Zondler both said the reaction they get from people who find out they model for the class is also generally positive. Hardy said some people tease him about being "off the deep end," but most think it's really cool and want to know how to get involved. He said nobody has ever been offended.
Zondler said though she doubts she will ever be immortalized in the vein of Venus de Milo or other nude works, she enjoys the opportunity to contribute to the art world without being an artist herself. She said she loves to see how all the different artists use color and style to interpret her body. One of the artists has promised to give Zondler and Hardy all the pieces depicting them at the end of the class.
"Some of the pictures come back and they're so beautiful, and it's like, 'Wow, someone used my shape and the lines of my body to create something that beautiful,'" Zondler said. "I think it's a really cool experience."
-jenbeasley@cc.usu.edu
is a 19-year old male art student so morally sanctified that he is not moved sexually by the sight of a naked female?
who are you trying to con?