Publisher nixes teen's nude self-portrait

PORTSMOUTH, Va., April 5 (UPI) -- A teen artist in Portsmouth, Va., who lost a contest after her nude self-portrait was deemed inappropriate, is thanking art lovers for their financial support.

Churchland High School student Nancy Reid, 17, was initially chosen as the winner of this year's The Virginian-Pilot Student Gallery for her self-portrait, described as a discrete nude. But her artistic effort was deemed inappropriate by the publisher of the sponsoring newspaper and she lost out on the $1,000 prize money, the (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot reported Saturday.

But others jumped into action, raising $700 for Reid.

"I was not expecting it," she said. "That's really nice of them. But I feel bad that they're doing that. It shouldn't be their responsibility to make up for this huge scandal going on."

Virginian-Pilot publisher Bruce Bradley, who also would not let his newspaper publish a photo of the artwork, stood by his decision, saying Reid's subject matter was not appropriate for the annual contest.

"While it's true we don't specifically address this in the rules and regulations, the concern I had was to have a 17-year-old girl do a self-portrait of herself in the nude," Bradley said. "I thought that was inappropriate for the contest."