Our History:
The First Ten Years

It began with a desire to showcase stunning erotic art. To create a place to celebrate, discuss and support pieces that were rarely seen in mainstream galleries and museums. We dreamed of sexy people in a lush environment looking at amazing art. Of an event that joyfully encouraged people to be as open and expressive as they wanted to be. And we brought it to life.

The first Seattle Erotic Art Festival was produced in 2003 by the Sex Positive Community Center (now the Foundation for Sex Positive Culture). A jury of local artists selected hundreds of pieces of art that were enjoyed by more than 1,000 art patrons.

The Seattle Erotic Art Festival supports a vibrant creative community, promotes freedom of expression, and fosters sex-positive culture through public celebration of the arts

By 2005, our audience had tripled, art sales were phenomenal, and our Festival Store became a vital marketplace.

In many ways, 2008 was the year we came of age. We moved to the historic Seattle Center Exhibition Hall, beside the famous Space Needle, and hosted a lavish one-night gala.

In 2009, we produced four full days of “Indulging the Senses”, with 300 works of exhibition art, thousands of pieces in the popular Festival Store, the premiere of our Literary Art Showcase, dazzling performance and installation art, and our first wildly successful (and free) Sunday Open House.

In 2010, we celebrated our last year at Seattle Center. We proudly presented our first-ever stage show production, sharing the glittering story of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Perhaps most exciting of all? Tickets sold out on Saturday night to thousands of excited guests.

In 2011, we moved to a fantastic new home: Fremont Studios. We featured our first Erotic Short Film Exhibition, with two unique film screenings playing throughout the weekend in an on-site movie theater. The Literary Art Exhibition flourished with popular poetry art tours and our first ever Literary Art Anthology. The visual art and performances were more successful than ever.

Additionally, the Festival began expanding beyond its annual weekend of events, reaching more people, and celebrating art in bigger and more beautiful ways.

We held our first annual fundraiser, an intimate and elegant soirée. We produced our second annual Launch Party, which grew from 300 to 900 attendees. We participated in Arts Crush, a month-long county-wide arts festival. And we concluded 2011 by producing Seduction, Seattle’s sexiest Halloween party, with over 1,500 attendees.

In 2012, we launched our first ever member program, the prestigious Art Activist Society, at our sold out Black Tie Affair. We unveiled our highest honor: the Masters of Erotic Art. We forged exciting new partnerships with Nude Nite and The Dirty Show, and are participating in the Fremont Fair and Seattle Pride, some of Seattle’s largest and most infamous events.

Best of all, for our 10th anniversary Festival we expanded to a 10-day affair, with over 8,000 attendees — by far our biggest and best year yet. We featured our largest installations, three film programs, and more art than ever before.

We concluded our 10th year by throwing our second annual Halloween party, Seduction, to over 1,500 delighted attendees. One of our most successful events to date.

Come experience an all-new Festival with us in 2013.