Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog

This is truly bizarre. When I was in 10th Grade I was recommended by my art teacher to attend life drawing classes (which nude involved models) at the state college. For one semester I attended these classes and even brought in the drawings to school for critique and portfolio review. It was understood that I was serious about attending Art School and so this was seen as an accepted and beneficial step. No controversy involved.
This is extremely ridiculous behavior, either there is more to this story or just another case of over-reaction.
Perhaps trying to create his own classes is what got him in trouble. He probably should have asked the school board first before having conversations about it in the classroom. (Even so, these are High School students, they should have an idea of what is appropriate.) If only he sent letters home to promising/ hopeful students suggesting to parents that, they should decide weather it is necessary they could sent their kids to those programs. Now even if he doesn't get fired, he will have this controversy looming over his head. Dumb.

what on earth are they thinking is the harm in nude life drawing? ninth graders must see a whole lot more "corrupting" rubbish on the TV and films and magazines than an "ordinary" naked human sitting in front of a group of young artists. Stupid.

There are so many reasons that this is ridiculous. First of all I'm sure that the students are presented with violent images in history classes, which are certainly more potentially damaging than nudity in any form. Secondly, any students that wanted to improve their figure drawing skills should have every opportunity to do so, and it is the job of a teacher to instruct and facilitate the progression of his or her students' educational progression. If any students are uncomfortable with nudity it is no reflection of them or the teacher, as it was only a suggestion. This is certainly not sexual harassment in any way. This is a situation in which the line between art and pornography needs to be questioned, but almost any artist or art appreciator can tell you that nude figure drawing classes are well into art, and most definitely not pornography

Preposterous!!!!!

You think this is bad, I went to a conservative COLLEGE where a teacher was fired because one of the (draped) models misconstrued remarks made by a life drawing teacher. This teacher had decades of experience and had himself been taught by some of the greats. And a wife and kids and retirement to look forward to.
Several students complained about his release but were themselves threatened with academic probation.

check this out:
http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/news...
(prepare yourself for insanity first)

Those who have suspended the art teacher must do a museum docent tour for an elementary field trip to an art museum!
Aside from warning children not to sit on anything, they must tell the children to avoid looking at statues which haven't been properly draped for their viewing.

When will you damned artists learn? Our bodies are shameful and disgusting. It says so right in the Bible. I think page 73.

What about nude animals?

http://www.artrenewal.org/articles/2006/Peter_P...

There's more to the story.

Today we are not living in an enlightened society...around every corner there are pitfalls for the creative forces among us. First creative types have to stay clear of anything that smacks of being or doing anything conservative society sees as a moral issue..according to them.I do agree a parent should make decisions for their individual children...but to fire a teacher for suggesting nude-figure drawing is insane . jim m. says: There's more to the story. Hey jim m. if there is tell it..

With regard to this action against Mr. Panse, and with sincere respect for those who have differeing sensibilities about the undraped figure, for whatever their reasons, I join with many others (artists, educators and common citizens) who request the Middletown School District Board of Education to disengage from this shameful and wrongful persecution of Mr. Panse over the issue of suggesting further education in the visual arts which include the use of the undraped human figure. -- The employment of the human figure in the visual arts not only has had a long and honorable history (i.e. the Sistine Chapel etc.) but it is just as necessary to the visual arts as is the medical study of human anatomy is to the medical professions. Let us hope no medical educator is harassed like Mr. Panse is being harassed for simply doing the duty of his profession in a respectable manner. To censure Mr. Panse for such a thing is slanderous because it impugns his motives, disregards his professional status, and assumes knowledge of his intentions and subject other than (and in stark contradiction to) what the teacher has himself proven by his long and respectable career. The action of the school board seems presumptuous, reactionary, odious, and basically unwise. Such activities do not speak well of the school board in either even-handedness or in their commitment to education. As Michelangelo told his detractors, their reaction to nudity spoke more loudly about their corruption than his own. Though this may not be entirely true of all those who have strong reactions to undraped figures in works of art (or otherwise), it is worthy of consideration. -- And, though the school board is likely trying to be responsible and protective of its students (an admirable and important duty), but this action against Mr. Panse is overly harsh, reactionary, and is ultimately unhelpful -- perhaps it will even prove destructive to their own authority and credibility as educators. -- Therefore, again, I and my colleagues request that the school board withdraw immediately and completely from all disciplinary action against Mr. Panse over this issue. If this attack on Mr. Panse is really just a cover for some other issue, then I humbly suggest that the real issue (not this one) be addressed. This issue can end in nothing but confusion for the school's many constituents, and derision for the school board. Just look at what a stir this action has already caused across the country. May the school board be known for its fairness, intelligence, humility, and clear-headedness in this and every other matter it evaluates. ----
Thank you for hearing our voices.

Can I get a release form for cheribini drawings?

Burn down the school and Keyser Soze all of the people in charge and their families.

Nuke it from orbit, bury it in fresh cement. Salt the earth and paint the windows black. Call an exorcist, and after the rituals are finished, have him dig a hole and behead him with the shovel, lest he speak of what has happened there. Mark my words: no good will ever come from an institution like this one.

Who needs the Constitution when you can use something a little more updated? like the Bible.
Can I move to Canada?

It frightens me that such close minded people are in charge of the education of the future leaders of our country.

In the biography of the "Red Rose Girls"--a group of very prominent Brandywine/Philadelphia-area illustrators of the early 20th century, including Jesse Wilcox Smith and Elizabeth Shippen Green--there's a photograph of a classroom filled with classic Gibson girls: everyone is corseted, hair upswept, long skirts, muslin blouses up to their necks. They're all looking at and drawing a real, live,nude figure. They are all young women--several are likely teenagers.
This was in 1905. 1905.
I believe that the only nods to the ultra-straight-laced attitudes of 1900 for women in art class were either drawing only female nudes, or drawing men in jockstraps(or some permutation of one), but apparently it was otherwise okay for art students to practice the greatest foundation work, life drawing. Are we really going so far backwards that we're now 101 years later behind "respectable" people of 1905?
I find it both amusing and pathetically sad that anyone could so misconstrue the act of drawing the nude. It's NOT eroticism, folks! I only hope that hundreds of prominent artists explain the facts of art instruction to these foolish folks who raised a stink and are forfeiting someone's job. It does make one wonder what more there is to the story--a student with a grudge? A claim of harrassment of some kind? It just doesn't seem plausible, the way it's presented in this paragraph. Unreal.

This just makes me sad for America.

Middletown isn't a terribly backwards area - it's the capital of a blue county in a blue state. It's suprising to see such a furor over something as inocuous as life drawing. They should know better.

Absolutely ridiculous. After all, these are students in ninth grade, not infants! Nudity in a figure drawing class is wrong but not the crap that students at that age are exposed to on television, in theatres, and on the internet? The real crime here is the people who will allow for this teacher to lose his job. Anther example of how the education system is much more handicapped then most people realize.

That's Stefano---not Stefani. Heh heh.

Ugh, where is the Bible involved in this? As though morality and the opinion of what is moral is a soley religious thing. :\ Get some perspective.
And on topic, isanity (and sadly common). :(

With each new year of my life, America becomes less and less appealing.

Terrible as this has occured 20 minutes away from me. Ps: It's Middletown, not Middleton.

With all due respect to the sane citizens there,
is Middletown short for Middle-Ages-Town?

i don't know of any teacher who would allow a 13 year old kid into a class with a nude model.

i'm sorry, but i just don't see that happening. i don't think a teacher should be reprimanded for suggesting it as an idea, but really... i'm wondering where some of you are from where a 13 year old(9th grade) would be able to view full frontal nudity no matter what the intent.
i can tell you one thing: when i was 13 years old, my friends and yself definitely did not have the maturity level to attend a class with a naked model. our little brains would spin around in our heads and we'd be laughing and acting up to no end. thats par for course for kids that age. period.

I'd like to say Mr. Panse doesn't deserve to get ANY punishment whatsoever. First of all, Ninth grade; aren't kids already 15 or 16 at that time? (ie: old enough to be taught life drawing/know the difference between right and wrong)? Ourlife drawing teacherin ourcollege has been doing it since he was twelve.

Secondly whoever quotes the bible should do his/her research more if you'd like to be sarcastic about the bible. Page 73 is NOT about our bodies being disgusting--it's about Jacob and his Twelve Sons.

I'm speechless (i.e. unable to express my opinion without resorting to Language.) So these children watch no TV, look at no films, see no adverts? Unless they have been sealed in little cardboard boxes all their lives, they will undoubtedly have seen a fair bit of naked skin, much of it presented in an overtly sexual way. How would supervised life classes damage their little psyches? I am quite happy to show nude paintings and statues to my Art pupils (from 8 years to 13) and have yet to hear a complaint, from the children, the parents or any inspector.

only possible in usa... :(

Dan0 - it doesn't matter what age you are the embarrassment leaves you quite quickly once you start concentrating. I can imagine it wouldn't be suitable for a general class where not everyone is there because they have chosen to be as you would not be able to get everyone to concentrate enough and those poor kids would not be able to get over any squirminess they might feel. Once you have students that have chosen to be there the atmosphere changes though.

US Christians - as ever it's not the original text that is the problem as people developing cultures which misuse or reinterpret it to reinforce their own social laws. America appears to be developing a rather scary conservative culture which seems almost medieval from outsiders looking in. Obviously if you live there, you will know whether each region of the US varies more than us non-Americans think. There should be an automatic disclaimer that not all Christians think the same, I guess.

uns3en - What's more scary for me as a British non-Christian is how these attitudes seem to be beginning to grow in the United Kingdom....

wearth is so important````
thank you

The committee should be sent to spend an evening life drawing. Broadening their minds might change the way they think in other areas. But its just one committee - not an American thing.

We're all in serious trouble if Mr. Peter Panse gets fired or suspended. These so called "educators" along with the likes of people like Tom DeLay (http://tomdelaymovie.com/index.php) are out to destroy the arts because they see no reason for it.

Do you have any idea what life would be without art? That includes music, writing, the performing arts, etc. These things enrich our lives and make life worth living. How many people have gotten through hard times with the help of an artists music and lyrics? Or have been moved or inspired by a painting?

We all need to stand behind Mr. Panse and make it known that we're not going to give up and that we will always fight for the arts.

The only thing that remains to do for them is to go and bomb Michelangelo's David and the Venus of Urbino...

In my sense, art isn't pornography. I keep a good feeling of my drawing classes; We pressed an absolute respect of the models, and never I have seen any misconduct on that point.

i have to say i object to the implications of "danO" posting the article about the st. paul school that came up with ways to get around requiring muslim students to make representations of human or animal figures in art class. you wouldn't require jewish students to eat pork at the school cafeteria; instead, you'd provide other options. similarly, it seems this particular school has found ways to teach the basic concepts of art to muslim students without asking them to compromise their religious beliefs: i mean, is it really so outrageous that art teachers might offer the option of drawing still lifes or landscapes in lieu of figures and self-portraits? i think equating their course of action with the suspension of this particular art teacher (which is patently bizarre, though i can't help but wonder why he would tell thirteen- and fourteen-year-old kids to seek out nude model sessions, especially since it appears he was directed in writing to avoid doing so) is itself bizarre and offensive.

The sad thing is that the same parents and teachers who suspended the poor guy to protect their kid's innocence probably could walk into their teenagers rooms and find all sorts of pornographic manga comics, a little ICP and who knows what else.

He should have told them to go to an NRA meeting instead.
Guns good. Genitalia bad.

Joking.

Seriously though, this is really sad. I hope the town's people come to their senses and the teacher is vindicated.

to jim m. -

Read your link and signed the petition.

to all -

You have all said well what I am about to say in summation: Our highly litigious and super conservative American society threaten to damn future generations into a modern Dark Ages.

Steven - thats OUR SOCIETY. art class is part of our CULTURE.
a culture founded on freedom and enlightenment and no mater whether you are supporting applied ignorance of aschool sytem to conduct art classes in the name of multiculturalism or "cultural sensitivity", you are still destroying the aims of our culture and our nation.
if muslim families from east africa do not want their children to draw human figures - then they should NOT be living in America.
we accept all people here, no all belief systems.
amongst cannibalism and slavery is the dark ages mentality that a religion goes beyond being a set of beliefs and becomes a set of laws governing over people's actions for the worse.
i think your postion on that issue is ass backwards.
all cultures are not equal - that sunds like a racist statement but it goes right along with "life is not fair".
if all cultures were equal, then we would allow doctors to perfomr clitoral circumcision on those little girls from east africa. it would prevent them from ever learning about their own sexuality, just like preventing them from drawing ANY human form prevents them from learining about their own creativity.

First of all ninth grade students are not 13.. unless they are are very smart and have been promoted ahead. They are 15 to16 yrs of age. So let's not get all excited about that. My son enjoys drawing. He's 10.. would I send him to a life drawing class. No. He's not ready for it. At 15. maybe with adult supervision and a clear understanding of what he's there for.
So the consideration of firing a teacher for "mentioning" taking life classes is nuts. Plain and simple. Over reaction at it's worst. But it happens.. people want to feel they are protecting their children. They just need to think first..not just react.
As for the Muslim art classes.. is this a class especially for them alone? or has the class changed for EVERYBODY involved. If it's yes to the 2nd question then it's a wrong decision because someone else's beliefs are being impossed on those that don't beleive the same way. People would scream blody murder if Christians impossed the same thing. (Yes I know some have done just that in the past..that's another issue for another time.) Would I make Jews eat pork in the cafeteria? No, but I also wouldn't remove it from the menu entirely.
I wish I had taken life drawing classes back in the early art learning. I'd benefit from it no doubt.

I have drawn this... maybe this teacher likes it

http://chino.wordpress.com/files/2005/12/chupal...

"When will you damned artists learn? Our bodies are shameful and disgusting. It says so right in the Bible. I think page 73."
My dear, that belief died out with the albegensian heresy. Please actually READ the Bible instead of a few randomized quotes taken out of context to prove a silly and illogical point.
Please consider the following:
A. God said that all of creation was good, but man was VERY good. Yes, this was before the fall, but to say that God changed His mind is to place limits on His divinity. I mean, he KNEW we would fall.
B. God said “Be fruitful and multiply”. This obviously includes making more bodies, eh?
C. According to Paul, our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. Our bodies are beautiful and sacred, nothing to be ashamed of.
Also, if you’re so bent on following the Bible, you better not curse artists (and yes that is what D*mning is). It says that that is a serious sin. Period. The end.
Oh, and page 73??? Of what edition for heaven's sake?! Protestant or Catholic?! Translation? Publisher? What book? What verse? What context?

About the teacher, I feel sorry for the fellow. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to suggest a class that included nudes to a group of 9th graders. However, a lot of art teachers do not think twice about nudes and just forget that others do no share their feelings.

I think that page 73 comment might have been a joke. Sarcasm just doesn't come across too well online. Ha.

Anyone who's taken a nude lifedrawing class knows that it's just about the least sexy thing in the entire world, and the model ceases to become a naked person on a platform, but more of a mass of infuritating shapes and tones. I hope they come to their senses, these people. Makes me sad.

So THATS why I'm a syphilis-ridden, leather-clad transexual prostitute living on the streets with only blow-job money to sustain me. It was the life drawing classes.

First of all, sarcasm or no, I think it is kind of uncalled for to point fingers at Christians in this case. That only reinforces stereotypes that exist of what the Bible actually teaches.

I happen to be a Christian believer who thinks that nudity has a proper context. Most social contexts call for clothes, because lust actually exists and is destructive. However, there is Biblical freedom for artists (who are not particularly tempted) to express and view nudity in tasteful ways - ie. when there is not obsession, or a felt need to hide behind closed doors.

I will say that some elements of American society, many of them conservative have somehow developed an extrabiblical hypersensitivity to nudity and sexuality, partially because of how often it's been perverted. This probably also traces back to some Platonic twisting of scripture (gnostic "matter is evil" type thinking), but that's another story.

To a doctor or an artist, studying the unclothed human form is vital.

Half the girls (all about 16 years old) in one of my life classes attend the local convent school and have come with the blessing of the school and their parents. I think it's wonderful that they've gone through that first uncomfortable-with-a-real-live-naked-person-first-five-minutes early on and now they can get on with improving their skills. I'm going to copy this story and show it to them at the next class, so that they can all be amused at the wonderful wacky world of America. On a more serious note, it's appalling and tragic if a man is to lose his job over this so I've signed the petition and will try to get as many as I can to also do so.

Really, I wish that I had more teacher like him, who were just doing their job!

Things like this reminde me that we live in a very fearful, sad Age.

I was all worked up about this whole thing because I thought it was about the school's blind morality, but as somebody else suggested here, this is fear of litigation, isn't it? Maybe the law can allow them to fire a teacher but the law will crush them if they get sued by parents. Boy, now I'm depressed.

oh there is simply one thing I can say about that:
lol @ USA

God bless Europe

don't count on this sort of political correctness (isn't it more political correctness than biblical morality that's behind this?) not spreading throughout Europe... it's already pretty prevalent in the UK. double depressing.

Wow. What shocks me the most is not the topic of the post but the hypocritical replies in the comments. Time to move to Canada? Our higher education system is full of conservatives? Here’s a news flash: This kind of thing is common, only most of the time it’s conservatives being oppressed. With campuses being a liberal climate, you get a lot of political correctness and things like “speech codes.” You get students getting grades docked or being suspended for having a different political viewpoint.

Maybe Peter Panse should contact FIRE: Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.
http://www.thefire.org/

I think this teacher does not deserve what he is getting. It’s a bad situation, but seriously, if this gets you all in a tizzy, you might want to get some perspective before you go around bashing conservatives.

Sorry, I didn't close a bold tag.

While we are all familiar with mob behavior where the townspeople with pitchforks and torches in hand are emboldened into violence against the free thinking artist, I don't believe this is the case. More insidious is the growing mob cowardice that prevails in schools boards, city councils, corporate hr departments and other chain gangs. When given the choice between standing up against a minority fringe or taking the easy way out and lynching an individual. They will choose the later. This lemming mentality is possibly the biggest threat to civilization as a whole but fits with the lowest common denominator mass media world we live in.

Kate is absolutly right. Even at 14 years old. The appeal of seeing a naked woman or man in a drawing class loses its appeal exactly 35 seconds into the class (or, exactly after they move into the second 30 second pose).

The human body is maddening to draw, and is only really senuous when given the time to explore. You can't really do that in a class.

unfortunatly the people who are offended by this probably have never attended a class and seen the zen-like focus a student shows in a situation like this.

This just makes me sad.

e

He should be hanged! Smut monger!

I think it absurd that the Middletown School District Board of Education is putting Mr. Panse through this. Anyone that has ever sat in a figure drawing class knows that the last thing on anyone’s mind is sex. The students are UPPER CLASSMEN which means they are at least 15/16 years old, not 13 like some ignorant person said. The students taking this class are all serious art students. Once in a figure drawing class the model becomes shapes and shades. The activities in a figure drawing class are meant to refine and hone the artists’ skills. You would think in a state that prides itself with being at the forefront of art and culture in America there would exist educators who are willing to give students a well rounded education in the arts, but sadly that is not the case. My heart and prayers are with Mr. Panse. In my opinion we need more teachers like Mr. Panse who are willing to prepare their studets and not shelter them in a conservative little bubble. For those of you who want to keep your students/kids in a conservative bubble, think of the backlash when your child does get out. It is the sheltered kids that tend to absue drugs alcohol and sex when they leave mommy and daadys house for a college campus.
-Sue Baute, Artist and Teacher, Miami FL

Ditto what Keith said.

Sue: You have no idea what you’re talking about.

people are prunes. thats the problem

Very true, it's ridiculous for a teacher to lose a job over a thought or suggestion. But come on, when these kids are 18, and entering college, go draw all the nude models you want. I don't see why they need to be doing this at 14, 15 years old. They're still kids, after all; just very grown kids. I wonder what some of these folks leaving comments are thinking, like it's absolutely no big deal? There's a world of difference and maturity between a freshman in high school and a freshman in college/university. That's the reality of it all. I'm no prude, and my first life drawing class wasn't until I was 20, but to imagine myself drawing the nude model at barely a teenager... it'd be uncomfortable and awkward. And I felt very mature and intelligent for my age when I was entering high school. I totally agree in nude figure studies in life drawing, as they help an artist immensely. But geez, wait until the kid is grown up a bit more. Until then, there are plenty of other things to draw in order to improve on their artistic skills.

While I'm sympathetic to overwhelming sentiment on display in this thread, I don't think we know enough about this case. It seems people are just reacting to the title, when it appears there's possibly more stuff going on here, and that the teacher may has had a reprimands in the past that the town's board is reacting to.

Link taken from The Beat:
http://grammarpolice.net/archives/000946.php

hcduvall, you should read the link posted by jim m.:
http://www.artrenewal.org/articles/2006/Peter_P...

it's a very thorough explanation of the case, what the charges are and what they are not. the teacher is a well-respected and highly educated art teacher, with no past reprimands. if you really want to understand what's going on here - it's not just about reacting to the title - you owe it to yourself to read up.

My first life drawing class was in the late sixties. Everyone thought it was evil then too. The best thing is not to make such a big deal about it. You will just give the talking heads more fodder.
I could draw a nude before I ever saw a nude model. I knew I was in the right profession when I walked into my first life drawing class. It was life changing.
This guy will get his job back. The liberal union will see to that. Is that his real name? I think the parents were probably already suspicious. He should change it.

This makes me angry. In context of a drawing class, a nude is an object not something to be desired. I swear, these people must think life drawing is like sketching in a strip club.
I attended my first life drawing class while in 10th grade by the suggestion of my Art teacher and the vice principal to help me get into Art School (which did).... at a private Christian school (go figure!). I think there exact words were "just don't share this with your peers; they wouldn't understand".

This is terrible.. I teach in art college, and I do teach high school students during summer pre-college programs as well. I often hear those high school students complain that their art teachers are not helpful enough. Apparently what Mr. Panse did was tring to help those who have potential, to help the young artists explore their possiblities, which is exactly what an art teacher should do. I really hope he won't get charged.

There is not a lot of perspective regarding these comments, because a lot of the story has not been remarked upon. I attend Middletown High School, and I'm in the senior class. I have had Mr. Panse's classes for two years whilst at school.

While Mr. Panse was a decent teacher, I can understand his suspension. You have to take other events into account. We have had a very large, very public scandal regarding our Superintendent of Schools in the Middletown District. Robert Sigler, our former Superintendent, sodomised, molested and eventually had sexual intercourse with a special needs student for a very extended period of time before he was arrested, and the school board ignored it, though there has been sufficient proof that they were aware of what was going on.

I can understand the overreaction of our school board in regards to Mr. Panse's situation. He has been reprimanded for reports of lewd comments and inappropriate remarks to students in the early nineties, and has a record of sexual harrassment. He was warned that making any comments that could be potentially construed as sexual would result in his suspension.

Though I do not believe that suggesting life drawing classes is in any way sexual harrassment, I do contend that the school board acted in the only way they could in this particular situation. A parent complained that a teacher was making sexually connotated suggestions regarding a nude life drawing course outside of class, and the school board was forced to do something about it. They did not want to make the same mistake they made with Sigler, and perhaps this caused them to overreact in this case and suspend a teacher on less than solid grounds.

Being someone who loves drawing the human form I must say I appreciate the depth and breadth of the statements here... and the writers' conceren for the subject.

I am reminded of Frank Zappa's savage song set to a Mr. Rogers /kindergarden score where he asks.... What is the ugliest part of your body? he then goes through a whole list of different body parts and features and finally answers with...

I think it is your mind!

You know, i just remembered something. I once attended a Literature class in College, and some freak-parents were objecting all over against Shakespeare studies. (wtf!!). Apparently these same parents were against shakespeare and other thing when their kids were in High School too, some **** about Shakespeare being to wrong, or bad, or whatever. Maybe they´re from the same place!!!!! These people, i swear, now that they don´t have witches to burn, and still can´t see their own problems, end up persecuting different things.

i want wife from U.S.A

keep away from scary people...they are dangerous.
and maybe its better that he leaves that institution...and save himself...he will probably find a new place with cooler people...who have more evolved and awake souls.

everything happens for a reason...and nothing is permanent...just flow with life force and look up to the stars

My family's bible has several pages of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel in the front. Whatever shall I do? Oh, the conflict!

Perhaps the Middleton School Board should travel back in time, to censure him... and Pope Julius II. All the nekkid people! Goodness sake, what were they thinking!

Why isn't this information about the school and Mr. Pense made more public? That puts a completely different light on the whole affair.

I am surprised that this teacher is being persecuted for trying to teach art. Nude drawings are just art. If anybody sees it as nasty then that person needs to reevaluate their way of thinking. The problem lies within him/her not the artist. I was asked by my professor to sit in on our advanced drawing class of "Nude" models. I felt honored by this request. It meant that he thought I had potential as an artist. Students need to be encouraged not discouraged in learning. Where do people think art began? It started in caves with the most natural explorations. What is more natural than the human body, unadorned in all shapes and colors. People need to open their minds before they open their mouths. I approve of this teacher and his accomplishments. I congratulate him and his mission to help students be more.

looking back to who i was when i was that young i was in no way mature enough for a nude life drawing class,, im sure there are kids that are, but realisticly the average 9th grader is not mature enough to treat something like that seriously,,, there are plenty of other ways for young people to get into art when they are that age, and if they have the maturity they can talk to thier parents about it and persue it on thier own

its not apropriate that the teacher was fired for just talking about it, if he actualy brought a nude model into a public school enviroment that would be a diffrent story

also to blame parents over reactions on christianity is frivelous and vapid, there are plenty of other faiths that look down on nudity, christian bashing is the new socialy accepted racisim