'Artful' strippers escape censure

The club's amateur artists are unlikely to rival Picasso's famous nudes

A US strip club has managed to sidestep laws banning total nudity in public by offering customers the chance to make drawings depicting its dancers.

The club in Boise, Idaho, charges $15 (£8) for a sketch pad, pencil and dance performance, in what is billed as an "Art Club Night", Reuters agency says.

A city law passed in 2001 forbids complete nudity in public unless the display has "serious artistic merit".

The law was meant to provide an exemption for plays and art classes.

Abandon garments

"We have a lot of people drawing some very good pictures," the owner of the Erotic City Strip Club, Chris Teague, told Reuters.

Several drawings made by customers have been put on the club's walls.

Mr Teague said the idea was borne out of a request from a customer, who wanted to enter the premises free of charge in order to sketch the dancers.

Spotting a loophole in the law, Mr Teague ordered his dancers to altogether abandon the few garments they wore for the "art classes".