Photos by JM Denaut

It was a beautiful day in New York City on Saturday, July 26th. The weather was overcast but that is not what I am referring to as beautiful. What I am talking about, is the display that took place beginning in Columbus Circle at Central Park. 30 artists from throughout the country gathered under the organizational efforts of even hosts Andy Golub (local NYer) and Craig Tracy (of New Orleans, LA) to create something truly remarkable. It's called NY Body Painting Day, the first of what is to be an annual event.

Together, they painted close to 50 volunteer models, many of which are nudists from the NY based group, Young Naturist America. They were painted from head to toe in an intricate series of body paint art. Models stripped down to their bare skin and became living pieces of art in middle of a crowded New York City. Models and artists paired off and the results were beautiful. This event promotes the art of body painting, body confidence and shows how nudity is just a state of being and no more obscene than a statue.

The crowd cheered and enjoyed watching the images take shape. I watched as families came to check out the scene. Kids of all ages watched in awe at 'how cool' it was that they were playing with paint. One mother even told me that she loved the idea because there is less paint to clean from the laundry. She plans to nude paint at home.

I spoke to another woman who grew up in the middle east. She told me that she was nearly in tears at the sight. She said when she was growing up you were lucky to show the area around your eyes and how great it is to bare the body for art in the middle on New York City. She said "It is nothing short of beautiful, that I got to see this here today".