A row has broken out after a life-drawing class in north London was told its nude models should wear clothes following complaints.
Organisers of the daytime class have accused “puritanical” Hampstead Community Centre of taking a “Taliban attitude to artistic creation” after complaints were made about its naked muses.
The art class has been held at the venue for more than 30 years, and has long been popular with pensioners because one of its sessions takes place on Friday afternoons.
However, Tony Swann, who took over the group in 2022, said that complaints were made last month about how the class was taking place between two children’s sessions. He claimed that the group was asked to either move the class to the evening, clothe the muses or change the venue.
Mr Swann, an art teacher from east London, said that the group “black all the windows out and put signage up, so no one stumbles in on us – and it has worked for 30 years”.
He also argued that moving the class to the evenings would see attendance plummet, while making the model wear clothes would defeat the purpose of the class.
Tony Swann says that until recently the class had been taking place for 30 years without any complaints – SWNS/Tony Kershaw
The organisers have ultimately chosen to relocate the classes to the Quaker Meeting House, just down the road from the community centre.
Models and attendees criticised the centre’s “puritanical” decision and even likened it to the Taliban.
But a spokesman for the centre insisted that they were not being “prudish” in its decision, adding that it was “very comfortable with nudity in the correct context”.
The row stems from “safeguarding concerns”, first raised in January, around the class being sandwiched between two children’s sessions. It is unclear who raised the concerns.
Mr Swann claimed the class had always been held between children’s sessions and never faced complaints.
“In 30 years, we have never had a complaint, to my knowledge,” the 63-year-old insisted. “We’ve never offended children or parents. It seems like a very weird decision; it’s a community centre.
“We black all the windows out and put signage up, so no one stumbles in on us – and it has worked for 30 years. Why it suddenly does not work now is beyond us”.
He added: “It seems rather like a Taliban attitude to artistic creation and entirely needless.”
Hilary Curtis, a 63-year-old who has been modelling for the class for a decade, said: “It’s not a safeguarding issue. The fact that they are offering models being clothed as an option shows that the issue they were concerned about is the nudity of the models.
“I think that’s a puritanical response. I think it’s disappointing. I model in many locations around London. Life drawing is a traditional form that is central to Western art.”
A model for the class says ‘life drawing is a traditional form that is central to Western art’ – SWNS/Tony Kershaw
A spokesman for the Hampstead Community Centre said: “Safeguarding concerns had been raised in respect of the external hire of the centre for a life-drawing class that was being held between two regulated children’s sessions.
“This was therefore a simple scheduling decision reflecting our duty as trustees to balance the needs of the centre’s many users and activities.
“When the hirer told us that he did not want to use the centre in the evenings [for which he was offered a discount], we did posit whether a figure-drawing class might be an alternative solution should he prefer to continue with a daytime booking.
“There was certainly no prudishness involved – the trustees are very comfortable with nudity in the correct context.
A spokesman for the Hampstead Community Centre said ‘there was certainly no prudishness involved’ regards its dealings with the life-drawing class – SWNS/Tony Kershaw
“The Hampstead Community Centre has successfully hosted life-drawing classes for several decades in the evenings with wide support from the local artistic community and we look forward to continuing to do so in the future.
“We are of course sorry that we were unable to accommodate the hirer’s requests on this particular occasion but we were pleased to hear that he was able to secure an alternative venue without there being any disruption to the weekly class that he continues to operate.”
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