Art School JWs?

Stephanus

Some years back I went to art school for a year, and life drawing was one of the subjects. Although the prospect of perving on naked women was at first appealing, it soon became evident that sex-drive is a left-brain function while drawing is strictly right-brain. IOW, drawing naked people was just plain hard work, and it was the only thing that was hard! I had religious friends with no artistic abilities who of course argued that there was something wrong with it, however.

A couple of years later, a JW we knew and her 24 yo daughter came to our door; the daughter had finished art school recently and had also recently rejoined the JWs, as I understood the situation. I chatted with the daughter about art school and on the life-drawing issue she agreed with me that there was nothing sexual about it and that it was not morally wrong. Her mother, however, made it plain to her that there was no way, now that she was back in the fold, that she could continue with the practice of looking at and drawing naked people!

Which brings me to my question: is life-drawing or artistic nude photography officially condemned by the WBTS? Is it one of those "grey areas"? Is it disfellowshippable?

Stephanus

On the subject of art school, now that tertiary education isn't officially sanctioned against, would studying art be seen by the Org as a worthy use of one's college years? I'd be interested to see how art is perceived by the org; artists, thought not always making a lot of money, do get to pick their hours! And the org obviously has some use for "art" - those chintzy visions of paradise which grace almost every piece of literature they put out has to be produced by someone with some training, or at least some ability, in the field.

dedalus

would studying art be seen by the Org as a worthy use of one's college years?

I think the answer is all too obvious: NO! 'Cause studying art ain't gonna support you in the full time preaching work that is only being done by Jehovah's Witnesses.

"Art" in dub-world is akin to a "hobby" -- you know, like collecting stamps or building model cars out of popsicle sticks. For most Witnesses, there's little difference between a Picasso and a baseball card -- that's my guess, anyway.

I did know one sister with a real talent for painting, though. Alas, last time I spoke with her she was feeling too guilty about not pioneering while at the same time feeling unfulfilled for not developing her talent. The result? Paralysis and depression.

You can go to college for plumbing, auto repair, electrical instillion ... anything but the development of your artistic intelligence!

Dedalus

Jimmer

I suppose being a doctor would be out. (Its those examinations, ya know.)
You might as well throw out being a sports reporter. (Oh, those evil, competitive locker rooms.)
You could really stretch this out and say you could not work for undergarment or lingerie manufacturers. Hmmm... I wonder why?

claudia

As I have recently mentioned, I am one of those nude models at an art school. I dont equate a nude body with porn. Its all normal non sexual positions, sitting, standing,leaning etc. However I was never baptised. But my sister did not allow her son to draw a nude model in art school. I have a philosophy which i stand by, And that is that if I dont mind my children looking at certain types of nudity in art, I have no problem posing for certain types of art. I was taken all over in rome as a child and was exposed to all the nude sculptings and paintings so how can it be bad? The jw side of my family had a fit when they found out the art school job was nude.

Stephanus

The jw side of my family had a fit when they found out the art school job was nude.

This is obviously the attitude at R&F level; that was plain with my encounter as listed above. But what is the OFFICIAL view? Has there ever been a WT article condemning life-drawing or posing for such art? Has there ever been an article giving art as a career choice the thumbs down? And how do they reconcile the above with the fact that they have an "Art Department"?

Flowerpetal

dedalus:

I did know one sister with a real talent for painting, though. Alas, last time I spoke with her she was feeling too guilty about not pioneering while at the same time feeling unfulfilled for not developing her talent. The result? Paralysis and depression.

I hope by now she has moved on from her paralysis and depression. Many creative people, if not given a chance to express themselves, do fall into depression. It's part of their personality to create.

I see no reason not to learn to draw or paint the nude human body, because it is a work of art. Besides that, it's part of the learning process in the art world.

Flowerpetal

Stephanus, personally, I have never seen an articles like that.

eyes_opened

I posed for a few of those classes as a baptized jdub. My MIL knew about it as did some others and no big deal was made about it. There is no figuring JWs out! As my mom says..."It's enough to make a mare bite her colt!"

Eyes <who is now fully clothed> hehehe

DrunkWithLiberty

We have a friend who is JW and supports his family as an artist. He is wonderfully gifted and his works are displayed all over the country in galleries. He is most gifted in painting the human body. This has gotten him into quite a bit of trouble, especially after he was appointed elder. "How much skin is exposed? Do you have a chaperone with you at the sittings? What kind of position is the female model in?" He has done a few nudes but doesn't make it known to too many people. He does O.K. financially but he would do so much better without the guilt and trouble he goes through when painting women. I hope that at some point he is able to freely express his creative talents to the fullest degree, but I don't think that will happen.
Take care all, angie

Art School JWs?

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