EXPOSED

Most people have nightmares about standing naked in front of a class. Charles Smith, life drawing sculpture model, is paid for it.

Smith was informed about the job opening seven years ago by a singer at church and went to Missouri Southern looking for a job. The beginning of his career wasn't easy. Smith felt uneasy and awkward when he first began.

"You would just thinking about your self-image and about how people would look at you," Smith said. "It took me a while to get use to people just staring at you but after a while you get kind of desensitized."

Smith said he always enjoyed being in front of a camera, so while the initial stages of the job were uneasy, it was something he took to with a lot of energy. Steven Labadessa, assistant professor of art, said the energy still shows.

"Charlie's a very enthusiastic advocate for the arts in the fact that he donates his time in that there's other ways he can make money in the world, yet he chooses to be a model to support the burgeoning careers of artists in training," Labadessa said. "Given the more conservative nature of the area we live in, to have models that are open to working in the nude for young artists is a resource that is scarce and of enormous value not only to the faculty but to the students."

Smith said it can still be weird when he runs into somebody outside of class.

"If you see people out and about, like in the store or stuff like that, you're still kind of funny but since I'm just there doing life drawing sculpture modeling you just do your job and move on," Smith said.

Another obstacle Smith faces is his age, but says he has overcome that with his love for his work.

"Right now I'm 45 years old, and it's kind of crazy to be doing this at this age, but I've been here going on seven years, and I enjoy what I do," he said. "You just stay professional with the students, and they stay professional with you. I think a lot of it on the guys. You don't have to be the greatest looking; it's all about the attitude and if you know what you're doing."

Smith has also made a career of life drawing sculpture modeling outside of Southern. He has appeared in Detective Comics artwork and appeared as the black-suited Spider-Man at a Vintage Stock event, but Smith also said modeling is very hard work.

"I've found out that if you get out into the real world, like I've been modeling and things like that, that you're going to hear ‘no' and you're going to get rejected quite a bit, so it's easier to be rejected here at the school then to go out into the world, so it's easier for you to cope out in the real world," Smith said.

Jordan Murdock, junior art major, said Smith is a model that she has worked with for the last six semesters.

"He's a really nice guy," she said. "It's been really great working with him because he is such a great model. I guess sometimes you don't get good models, and it's nice to have one here."

Murdock said she has not had experiences with bad models but has heard stories about models that were not as talented.

Smith's portfolio can be found at http://www.modelmayhem.com/324345. For anyone interested in working with Smith, he can be contacted at smitchck6@yahoo.com or by phone 1-417-451-3924.