Hmmm. 50 bucks an hour....I'm finding this one quite different than my
experience with models. (Someone making $50 an hour translates into $75,000
per year if working full time, which, of course most models do not, but
that's still a hell of a lot of money for modeling gigs). Three years ago I
was the Assistant Director for a relatively well established Art School here
in Wash, D.C.. One of my jobs was to procure models for every class that
required such for each semester. At that time, the going rate was something
like 8.50 to 12 dollars an hour if I remember correctly. I do remember that
being pretty standard for most of the city which included several of the
Universities here as well as other Art Schools. There are usually groups of
models who interact with each other in most towns and share information
about gigs and price scales etc. Here's an idea that I have seen work well
here. I'm not sure how it may be where you live, but often many art schools
or studios will hold an open figure class or meeting where a model is hired
by several students or artists sharing a studio for perhaps 2 to 3 hours.
Those attending either split the cost or pay a small entry fee to the studio
( the School where I was working charged 7 dollars per each two and a half
hour session I believe.) While there was no instructor present, artist were
given the opportunity to work with a model and the model was able to pick up
an extra gig. If there isn't something like this available in your town,
perhaps you could organize such. It's a great way to meet and interact with
other artists in the community.
Good luck,
M. Sprouse
www.eklektikos.com