Best Knit Bomb Ever

[central scrutinizer]

The University of Oregon Department of Art used to have Saturday live nude model drawing sessions. They recently decided to stop offering these because of "safety concerns" and a lack of funding. To protest the cancellation of these sessions, local artists have been creative. On a corner close to campus is a large sculpture of a Great Blue Heron. Now the bird is sporting a knit bomb fig leaf.

http://registerguard.com/rg/news/local/32227290-75/cancelled-uo-sketching-class-with-nude-models-prompts-creative-protests.html.csp#


“As an artist, I am offended by the suggestion that participants ‘might have the wrong thoughts’ and that the model ‘might be an exhibitionist,’” Halpern wrote in her “open letter” to the UO that she posted on her blog. “Such assertions demonstrate ignorance and intolerance of the artistic process.

“First of all, these are outrageous, unfounded claims,” she wrote. “Secondly, they smack of rape-culture sentiment, as they echo the assertion that women ask to be raped when they expose skin.”

[NYC_SKP]

1. So, they've cancelled nude-model life drawing classes because of basketball player rape accusations?

This is very sad news.

The sports department thrives while the art and architecture department sinks.

Sickening.

[Comrade Grumpy]

2. No. If you take administrators at their word.

Muller said Monday that the decision to cancel the sessions was strictly a decision he made along with art department head Carla Bengtson.

Rumors have been circulating on campus and throughout the arts community that the decision came from university administrators as part of a larger effort toward sexual assault prevention on campus in the wake of three UO basketball players being accused of raping an 18-year-old student in March.

“Honestly, we weren’t really thinking about it in terms of the sexual assault discourse,” Muller said in a phone interview.

He said the school’s art department received several disturbing calls earlier this month in response to fliers posted around campus that advertised the need for new models who get paid hourly.

The department normally gets a couple of calls per week from people inquiring about serving as nude models, but about 20 a day were coming in after the fliers were posted, Muller said. “And this persisted for several weeks.”

Most of the calls were fine, he said, but some callers made “off-color” comments, such as “What do the models look like?” Muller said.

“And we just didn’t feel comfortable,” he said. “I really trust our staff, and if they are receiving calls they felt were uncomfortable, we felt we really needed to act.”

[NYC_SKP]

3. Their lame excuses, "didn't feel comfortable", are just as disturbing.

How very unenlightened of them.

All they needed to do was to recruit models in a more discrete manner or screen or filter the calls.

What they did is just nutty.