Nude Models Showing Up at Valley City State University

Written by Derek Davis

            No drawing class is complete unless there is a nude model sitting in front of the class.  For the Spring 2011 school semester, the Art Department is bringing Drawing III to art students so that they have the challenge of drawing the human form.  Ever since the early parts of art history, the human form has been shown in many cultures and in many places.  People are exposed to the human form when they walk into museums of art as well as other historic places.

Having this experience is drawing some controversy between some students and the art instructors, however.  There are students who do not wish to draw the human form because of their morals and religious reasons.  The instructors feel otherwise, stating that if students do not draw the human form, they will not be successful as artists in their careers.

Auguste Renoir's Young Girl Bathing (1892)

Valley City State University junior Jake Leno is one of the art students who feel their values and religious beliefs are being treated unfairly.  With a look of worry and concern regarding his future as an art student, Jake started to talk about faith being the single most important thing in his life.  Sitting down in his chair in his room, he said, “It’s my belief that a man should not be looking at women in that way.  My faith takes precedence over my schooling which makes it hard for me to take the class.” 

Leno’s faith and passion for his faith drives him to be uncertain about his future, but the art instructors at VCSU feel that much more is at stake for those students who feel the same way as he does.  With the human form being a challenging thing to tackle in any form of art, the art instructors feel that by not having this experience will damage a student’s success in art.  Linda Whitney, one of the art instructors at VCSU is passionate about students learning this particular form.  In a face-to-face interview as she prepared to make one of her own creations, she states that “the hardest thing to draw is something we know.  If the students don’t learn how to draw the human form, they are doomed not to be successful.”  She also mentions that the students will not always be drawing the models while the models are in the nude.  “Sometimes they will be wearing bathing suits, sometimes clothed.  But if you look at art history, it is based on the nude form.”

In any career, there are crucial things for people to learn to do.  It seems that in the art world, these things may be things that are going to be a challenge for them to do for any reason, whether it be a question of morals, a question of religion, or it may be something else that drives the art professional to not do.  As Spring 2011 approaches in January, students will be exposed to this particular form of art.  The question of whether the students will follow through with the course or drop it before it is too late cannot be answered at that moment.  But one thing is for certain:  There will be nude models sitting in front of them as they draw the human form.