Nude art models or topless dancers, it's all just smut to Ruth Fuller, one of a group of residents demanding an end to the use of nude models in classes at the city-sponsored Art Shop.

"Smut is smut no matter how you look at it," Fuller said."There's no excuse for nude models," said Bonnie Vernon, another opponent of the classes. "In our community, we should hold ourselves to a higher standard."

Doyle Shaw, who instructs the art classes, said, "The purist form of art is drawing a nude figure. There is nothing nasty about it."

Art students can't get this type of experience anywhere else in the area because Brigham Young University and Utah Valley State College don't provide it.

"That is the bare fact of why BYU and UVSC students come here," Shaw said.

One of the complaints about the art classes is that they are conducted in a public building. The Art Shop is owned by the Nebo School District and leased to the Arts Commission of Springville, which is under the city jurisdiction.

Another concern is the location. The Art Shop is next door to the town's Family History Building and across the street from the middle school.

Some of the opponents contend the art class should have to answer to the sexually oriented business ordinance passed by city officials a few months ago.

Springville Mayor Hal Wing, who took office in January, said he didn't know there was nude modeling going on, and while he said he personally doesn't have a problem with the classes, he is concerned they meet in a public building.

"I'm just asking if it is proper," he said.

Wing said about 20 people have complained.

The mayor and City Council will discuss the issue at a work session Tuesday night. Wing said townsfolk should express their opinions to their council members before that night, because the session will not include a public forum.

The art classes have been meeting on Saturdays for about eight years. The front door of the Art Shop is topped with a large stained glass window that depicts a forest and a deer. On the front lawn is one of Shaw's sculptures, "Swan's Flight."

The building's street-facing windows have been another issue.

"Young boys could peek in the window," said Debbie Bartholomew. "Their little precious eyes need to be protected from that."

However, Shaw said they cover up the windows before each class.

He said artists can attend the class only if they have the instructor's approval. Students must be at least 18, and they are not allowed to touch or talk to the model.

Shaw said that if the city shuts him down, he will just conduct the class elsewhere.