Peter Panse (art teacher)
Artist: Peter Panse
Year: 2006
Date of Action: January 2006-May 2007
Region: North America
Location: Middletown High School, Middletown, NY.
Subject: Nudity
Medium: Personal Opinion
Confronting Bodies: Middletown High School and school board President Vincent Crescenzo
Description of Artwork: Highschool art teacher Peter Panse encourged his students to take nude-figure drawing courses to build their portofolios and help them with their applications to art colleges. Thereafter, four students have attended nude figure drawing lessons at the New York Academy of Art during the summer, which helped earn at least one of them a scholarship offer.
The Incident: The teacher was given a 15-day suspension as "the kids are too young for such classes, and Panse didn't involve their parents" (school board President Vincent Crescenzo). The school was "proactive" in light of previous scandals of teacher-student sexual relationships such as the Robert Sigler case.
Results of Incident: Panse returned to the classroom in February 2007 and sued the school district over suspension, the violation of his rights and the public embarassment that followed.
Source:
Middletown art teacher Panse will return to classroom, Times Herald-Record, Jan 24, 2007.
Middletown H.S. teacher Peter Panse sues district over suspension, Times Herald-Record, May 12, 2007.
