The University of Oregon is canceling its free figure drawing class for community artists. This class features live, nude models and has been a weekly Saurday tradition for decades. The Daily Mail reports that after receiving a rash of off-color calls and emails inquiring about the drawing session, administrators decided the school could no longer afford the increasing cost of keeping the class secure.
Some of the callers asked about the appearance of the models, which raised concern. The university’s dean of finance, Rocco Luiere told the Mail Online, “As we start to get calls on that, we have to take a step back and say we’re running this program, we have an ethical responsibility to make sure we’re doing this in a safe environment. And we did not feel we could provide that at this point.'” The calls and emails first started two weeks ago after someone posted fliers looking for models.
Local artists were upset after hearing the news and maintain there has never been any inappropriate behavior in the classes. According to a report by the Eugene Register-Guard, the acting dean of the school, Brook Muller sent a letter to the free figure drawing class participants. In the letter Muller wrote, “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.”
She went on to say a limited budget has prevented the university from putting more resources into security and as a result, the classes could not continue.
