Lin Lisberger’s intermediate drawing class is almost done for the day. There are eight students sitting or standing around the edges of a small room with no windows save four small skylights. The room’s track lighting is mostly focused on the two women resting in the middle of the floor. The models are lying head-to-toe and back-to-back, and wearing only jewelry.
Cynthia Harrington, a junior English major, recently turned 40 and started modeling nude for art students last fall at USM and Maine College of Art. She said her first day in front of a class was awkward, but only for a moment.
“That fades away after the first few minutes, they’re just there to draw you,” she said. “After they’re done they turn their work around and there’s 15 different perspectives.”
Harrington now sees that initial awkwardness from the other side. She remembers a class at MECA with a large number of young males. She was their first nude model.
“When they were done there were 18 drawings of my breasts, and (the students) were very proud of themselves.” She stressed that even for new classes, the work is “not sexual at all.”
“They take what they do very seriously, they really appreciate what (models) do,” Harrington said.
Lisberger’s students have their own first-time stories.
Studio art senior Crystal Bean was a few minutes late to her first nude drawing class and entered the room to find an older male model standing directly in front of her.
“It was a full-frontal view,” Bean said. “It was kind of a shock.”
Despite the mix of male and female models and some variety in age, the pool of models is relatively small.
“It would be nice to have some more variety,” said Silver Woodward, a junior art major. “I think (USM) has a hard time getting models.
Lisberger said that models like Harrington and Stanford are hard to come by.
“Having an experienced model does make a difference,” she said.
Debe Loughlin is the model coordinator for USM’s Art Department. She said the model pool is large enough, but it can be tough to match models’ schedules with class times.
Models at the University start at about $10 per hour, which is competitive with other schools, according to Loughlin. Potential models, clothed and nude, are referred to her through word of mouth and through art departments at other schools.
“We rely heavily on them,” she said. Older models are more reliable she said, and only about 10 percent of new models change their minds at the last minute.
“Some art and theater students will model clothed in a pinch,” she added.
Mary Stanford, the other model from Lisberger’s class, has modeled nude for nearly 20 years, almost 15 of those at USM. She also models for other nearby colleges and art studios, and does a great deal of private modeling for local artists.
“When I tell people what I do, they usually conjure up some lurid image,” Stanford said. “Really, it’s work.”
The 58-year-old credits her youthful appearance to regular exercise and said she works hard to provide a challenge for those who draw her.
“I like my body,” she said in her Tennessee drawl. “I usually try to get a pose that inspires and creates lines, curves, and negative space.”
On occasion modeling nude can be life threatening. Loughlin recalls an incident where a male model passed out during class. It seems standing completely still for 20 minutes combined with the heart medication he was taking adversely affected his blood circulation.
Students moved quickly to cover him up and monitor him while EMS was called. Rescue personnel were confused when they stepped into a room of fully dressed art students and one very naked unconscious man.
“They looked around and said ‘Why is he naked?'” said Loughlin. “They just kept asking us that question.”
The model was revived and taken to the hospital where he checked out okay.
Harrington said that while people are always curious about what she does, many don’t realize how hard it is to look animated while standing completely still.
“I wish more people would get beyond the fact that we’re nude,” she said. “It’s so rewarding especially when a student gives you one of their drawings. Everyone I’ve gotten I’ve matted.”
Harrington said the most important thing is the interaction between the model and the student.
“It’s not about the way we look, it’s about the art we create with our bodies.”
Arts and Entertainment Editor Scott Marcoux can be contacted at: [email protected]