On Nov. 7, student models were Bcc’d on an email that told them Bates will no longer utilize students for nude models after the Fall 2024 semester, effectively removing them from this position. According to Anthony Shostack, the Education Curator at the Museum of Art, there were six models including substitutes, but three that primarily filled the schedules.
The email, sent by Shostack, stated, “The decision was made for a variety of reasons, all of which have student welfare at their core…this change has not been precipitated by any event.”
Shostack, who is in charge of hiring and scheduling models, stated in an email to The Student that “no students were fired from their jobs as models…rather, the position is being phased out to remove potential instances of an asymmetrical power dynamic between a nude model or models and clothed supervisor.”For the unforeseen future, Bates college will be using off-campus models for their Weekly Life Drawing Sessions at the Bates Museum of Art.
According to Shostack, these sessions started in 1997 as a part of programming for an exhibition of large figure drawings by an artist named Anthony Panzera. For the next 27 years, the program ran continuously with student models until this year.
Cat Balco, department chair of the Arts and Visual Culture department, was clear that she didn’t want student models used in the department. According to Balco, using students as nude models is complicated, especially at a small, close-knit, liberal arts school.
“I am aware of other students in the class that may have relationships with the models as peers, or just in other ways in our small community,” Balco said.
She added, “experiencing students in multiple roles, one where nudity is okay, and one where it is not is very complex.” To further elaborate on Balco’s point: when you participate in a class as a life model, it’s expected to be nude. When you show up to Commons to eat or to the library to study, it’s not usually socially acceptable to be nude.
Student model Becky Phillips ‘25 said she was not consulted about the decision.
When asked whether models were part of this decision, Balco told The Student “I don’t think so” and Shostack stated that he also did not know, “as the student models’ supervisor, I relayed a decision made by others.”
Former student model Maria McEvoy ‘25 was frustrated by this decision. “If it was really for student welfare, then students should’ve been consulted.” She adds that she doesn’t think the position is “inherently” harmful. “The job is young people who are nude and that situation needs to be treated with more tact and more respect.”
McEvoy was a model her first two and a half years at Bates and for the majority of that time felt that it was “fun,” “physically challenging,” and “liberating.”
However, McEvoy stepped down from the position during her junior year because she took issue with how the program was operated. “There [were] never meetings between models…there’s no solidarity.” She added, “I would have kept this job forever, I just wish it wasn’t ran the way it was.”
Philips holds a similar sentiment to McEvoy describing her modeling as “one of the most liberating experiences…” She began modeling her sophomore year, taking a break during her junior year and picking it back up again this semester. “…It made me so confident in myself,” she said.
In 2022-2023, Philips primarily worked within the AVC modeling for figure drawing classes. She remarked how modeling allowed her to feel close to the Bates community and that it was “empowering to provide a service to a Bates college class and to have them learn from my body.”
But like McEvoy, Phillips ran into issues with the organization of the program. Philips modeled for the museum a few times this September. When the job seemed to come to a halt, she reached out to set up more modeling dates, receiving no response. “I felt like I had done something wrong,” she said.
After receiving the email, Phillips felt as though “they [were] not considering the work and the physical labor I put into modeling.”
She added, “This is something I’m proud of and I see this as serious work, so the email made me feel objectified, as if I was not a person.”
For Philips, as a senior, the end of her life model position feels like the end of her employment at Bates. With good reason, Philips believes that no one wants to hire a second semester senior for five months, when three of those are spent training. Philips is now out of a chunk of money that cannot be replaced by subsequent employment at Bates.
