Jan 26, 2009
Nude advert ban ends art class
Art students have lost the chance to brush up their life-drawing skills - because a job centre banned their adverts for nude models.
Tutors at the Cheshire School of Art in Northwich tried to recruit people prepared to strip for the class.
But staff at the town’s job centre told them the advertisement broke their rules.
New regulations mean they cannot accept work which entails people going nude.
Rowena Beighton-Dykes, a senior lecturer at the school, condemned the regulations as “barmy, small minded and petty”.
She told BBC News Online: “They said they were not allowed to advertise as people might feel pressurised into applying for a job which is inappropriate for them.”
A spokesman for the Employment Service confirmed the adverts had been rejected.
He said: “The guidlelines cover any degree of nudity and that is it basically.”
A statement from the Employment Service added that it no longer accepts vacancies which involve any degree of nudity.
It said: “We recognise that some job seekers may not personally object to these jobs - we do, however, have a duty to protect those job seekers who might.
“No judgement on the respectability of the work involved is in any way implied by our policy in this area.”
Lap dancing
Other job centres have removed adverts for lap dancing vacancies.
Life drawing models can earn Ł9 per hour, while tutors earn Ł15.
Ms Beighton Dykes, 44, said: “Life drawing is a crucial part of our students work.
“We are a grade-one faculty, and inspectors have told us one of our strengths is that we still do life drawing, which can be difficult to pay for.
“We have done our best, but we are struggling to get models.”