News from the Festival

Call for Art Now Open! Deadline March 10

The Festival is now accepting art submissions for the 10th anniversary event, to be held across two weekends, June 16-24. The Festival anticipates over 10,000 attendees — don’t miss your chance to be part of the biggest and best year yet!

The Festival is seeking:

Visual art of all kinds
Short film/video
Literary Art
Installation Art
Performance Art
DJ proposals
Pieces for the popular Festival Store

All artists 18 years old or older are encouraged to submit art for consideration. We accept submissions and feature art from artists across the nation and world, and there are no submission fees to apply if you live outside of North America.

Click here to apply now!

Deadlines (and Discounts!)

Take advantage of early-bird (discounted) submission fees up until 11pm PST on Wednesday, February 15. (Note that some Calls for Art are free to apply for, and all artists outside of North America apply for free.)

Call for Art closes at 11pm PST on Saturday, March 10.

Submissions may be edited up until the deadline.

More Information

Learn more about the Call for Art.

Attend a free information session on February 26.

Sign up for our free newsletter.

Visual Art Exhibition: Jury and Art Selection

The Festival is proud to be a place where art that is rarely seen in mainstream galleries and museums can be celebrated, discussed and supported. An event that showcasing intriguing explorations of eroticism. Most of the visual art on our walls each year is part of our juried exhibition, though we also feature invited and curated art. Curious about how it works?

The Call for Art

Every year we announce our Call for Visual Art and all artists 18+ are encouraged to submit up to five (5) works of erotic art of any medium through our website. Sculptors, multimedia artists and painters are particularly encouraged to apply. This art is considered for our juried exhibition.

All artists 18+ are encouraged to submit erotic art of any medium.

The Jury

A different and new visual art selection jury is appointed every year, with careful consideration. Jury members are selected by the Festival Director and Visual Art Director. To increase diversity of the selected art, the jury consists of five individuals: an erotic artist, an art professional, an art collector, a sex positive activist, and a Festival committee member. Each year the jury members change, except under special circumstances or on the basis of expertise in the realm of erotic art.

Selection Process

Art is selected by a blind jury; jurors never know whose work they are reviewing during the process.
Unknown and famous artists alike are given equal consideration and opportunity.
Jurors preview all submitted art before officially meeting. The jury then meets on two different days to view the submissions. All five jury members must be able attend both meetings; exceptions are permissible in cases of emergency. A jury member may be replaced in the case of a scheduling conflict, or conflict of interest.
The jury will select pieces based on: quality of execution, depth of emotion, originality of subject, and thought provoking elements that instigate conversations about sexuality, erotica, art, and/or societal mores.
The jury votes on which pieces to accept. Each piece of art is voted on, with one possible vote per jury member. Art that garners the majority of votes becomes an accepted piece. Consensus, while preferable, is not required for art to be accepted. The number of pieces selected is dependent on available wall space and varies from year to year.

Invited and Curated Art

In order to show the work of successful and international artists who no longer choose to submit their work to juried shows, the Festival includes curated and invited artist sections. However, the juried work has always represented the majority of art showcased at the Festival.
The Visual Art Director is responsible for inviting artists and/or appointing a Guest Curator. The Visual Art Director may ask the jury to give input on the invited art. Art submitted to the jury may become invited art at the Visual Art Director’s discretion.

Jury and Audience Selections

Each year, the audience and jury vote on the visual art during the Festival. Following the event, we announce the jury and audience winners. First place winners in both categories are invited to exhibit in the following year’s Festival.

If you have any questions, please contact us.

We Want You! Volunteer Info Meeting, Feb 19

Want to be part of Seattle’s sexiest event? Join us Sunday, February 19 from 1-3pm and learn more about how you can get involved with the Seattle Erotic Art Festival.

From planning the Festival, to mounting the party and making it run smoothly, to basking in the afterglow when it’s all over, this is a group effort—and a great time.

Join the fun of putting on the 10th anniversary Festival!

Attend this volunteer info meeting and:

Meet the Festival leadership
Hear the exciting plans for 2012
Learn about volunteer opportunities
Get your questions answered
Get involved!

We have lots of different volunteer opportunities ranging from ongoing positions throughout the year, to pre-event set-up, to assistance during the event, to post-event / strike.

Whether you can help for just a few hours or have time to give every week, we have a position for you.

Join us on Sunday, February 19, 1-3pm
Center for Sex Positive Culture, Annex
1608 15th Ave W
18+ only
(Free)

The 10th anniversary Festival is June 16-24, 2012 at Fremont Studios.

Call for Art Info Sessions, Jan 22 and Feb 26

Do you have questions about how the Call for Art works? Or just want some tips and insight into how to create the best application? Attend one of these free informative sessions and learn more about the submission process for all the types of art we seek, including helpful tips and demonstrations from key staff on the Festival planning committee.

Join us:
Sunday, January 22, 1-3pm
Sunday, February 26, 1-3pm

Come talk to Festival organizers, ask questions and learn useful tips on how to apply to any of the Calls for Art.

These Information Sessions Include

Demonstration of the online submission process — we will walk you through how the website works and answer questions along the way
Tips on how to price your art — our Visual Art Director will show examples of previous Festival art and give useful tips on how to value and price your work
Best advice on what to submit — we will discuss what the juries and curators look for
Common mistakes and how to avoid them — learn what not to do, in order to increase your chances of being accepted
Q&A — there will be plenty of time throughout the meeting for you to ask your questions

Note that these information sessions have a limited capacity. We encourage you to arrive on time to get a seat, and cannot guarantee entrance if the venue is at capacity.

Location and Directions

Sunday, February 26, 1-3pm

NOTE: For accessibility reasons, this has been moved from its original location. It will be hosted at Center for Sex Positive Culture.

Center for Sex Positive Culture
1602 15th Ave. W.
Seattle, WA 98119

Located on the corner of 15th Avenue West and West Garfield Street, next to the Magnolia Bridge in the Interbay neighborhood of Seattle. The Main Space is a one-story light brown building and an entrance on 15th Avenue West. The connected brown building houses the Annex, Raw Dungeon and the Library, and the entrance is on the north side. Both buildings are wheel-chair accessible.

Map on Google Maps

Additional directions on the Center’s page

10th Anniversary Call for Art

Artists, get your creative engines turning! The Festival will be accepting art submissions February 1 through March 10, 2012 for the 10th annual event, sure to be the biggest and best year yet. The Festival will be held across two weekends in June 2012 (June 16-24).

The Festival is calling for visual art of all media, short film, installation art, literary art, performance art, and items for the popular Festival Store.

All artists 18 years old or older are encouraged to submit art for consideration online at SeattleErotic.org.

The Festival will accept submissions starting February 1, 2012, until 11pm PST on Saturday, March 10. Submissions may be edited up until the deadline.

Artists may submit for as many Calls for Art as they wish, but note that each Call for Art has distinct requirements and may have additional submission fees. (See below for details about submission fees and rewards.)

Visual Art: up to five (5) pieces may be submitted of any medium. Sculptors, multimedia artists and painters are particularly encouraged to apply.
Film: up to the three (3) short films or videos may be submitted. Each submission may be up to 30 minutes in length.
Installation Art: up to three (3) interactive installation proposals may be submitted. Proposals are introductory descriptions of your piece in as much detail as possible. Installations can be submitted as ideas, and need not be completed work at the time of submission. Some grant funding is available for installation ideas.
Literary Art: up to five (5) literary pieces may be submitted — poems (up to 2 pages single-spaced), short stories (up to 1500 words, 7 pages double-spaced) and one-act plays or scripts (up to 15 pages including scene setup).
Performance Art: all performers 18 years old or older may submit for consideration for both ambient performances and the main stage production.
Store Art: all artists 18 years old or older may submit items such as books, jewelry, cards, collectibles, etc. for consideration by the Festival Store.

Spread the word, and sign up for the Festival’s free newsletter for updates.

Interested in how art selection works?

Read about our jury process and art curation.

Why Apply to the Call for Art?

Accepted artists receive

Featured at the 10th annual Seattle Erotic Art Festival across two weekends to up to 10,000 attendees
High art sales and competitive commission rate of 40% (on average, the Festival sells 25% of the artwork featured)
Full pass to both weekends of the Festival for self (artist)
Invitation to an exclusive Artist Reception for artist and a plus one (space is limited; RSVP will be required)
Featured in professionally designed Festival catalog, both in print and PDF
Promoted on Festival website gallery
Discounted printing and framing at partnering frame shops
Free workshops to support accepted artists
Additional benefits may apply based on your type of art

Declined artists (who paid a submission fee) receive

Weekend pass to the first weekend of the Festival (Saturday and Sunday) for self (artist) – $30 value.
$10, $20 or $30 discount (depends on what submission fee you paid) to the second weekend of the Festival, either for a Friday ticket or a full weekend pass (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) for self (artist)

Submission Fees to Apply

It is free to apply to some of the Calls for Art, and all artists outside of North America can apply for free.

Most of the Calls for Art do have a submission fee, ranging from $10 to $30.
Submission fees are low, and you receive special benefits in exchange, even if you only pay $10 to apply.
We offer special early-bird (discounted) submission fees until Wednesday, February 15 at 11pm PST.
All artists who pay a submission fee receive free access to the first weekend of the Festival for self (artist) – $30 value.
The submission fee can be applied to the second weekend, for either a discounted Friday pass or a full weekend pass for self (artist). For example, if you pay a $10 submission fee, you get a $10 discount; if you pay a $30 fee, you get a $30 discount.
Discount Codes: You will receive your discount code when Festival tickets are available for purchase. Each discount code can only be used once. Each artist will receive only one discount code (if you apply to multiple Calls for Art and pay multiple fees, you would receive one discount code worth the amount of the highest fee you paid.)

Early-Bird (Discounted) Submission Fees

Pay your fee by Wednesday, February 15 at 11pm PST to get these special rates:

No fee to submit film
No fee to submit performance art
No fee to apply if you are an artist living outside of North America
$20 fee to submit visual art
$20 fee to submit literary art
$20 fee to submit installation art
If you have paid a fee to submit visual, literary, and/or installation art, then you can submit work to the Festival Store for free. If you have not paid a fee, you will need to pay a $20 fee to apply to the Store.
Apply by February 15 at 11pm PST to take advantage of our early-bird (discounted) submission fees.

Standard Submission Fees

If you apply after 11pm PST on Wednesday, February 15, the following fees apply:

No fee to submit performance art
No fee to apply if you are an artist living outside of North America
$10 fee to submit film
$30 fee to submit visual art
$30 fee to submit literary art
$30 fee to submit installation art
If you have paid a fee to submit visual, literary, and/or installation art, then you can submit work to the Festival Store for free. If you have not paid a fee (or only paid for a $10 film fee), you will need to pay a $30 fee to apply to the Store.

General Guidelines for Submission

All artists and models must be 18 years old or older
Submission fees are non-refundable
Tickets are non-transferable
If accepted, the art submitted must be exactly the same as the delivered art
Unfinished art or “works in progress” will not be considered by the jury (with the exception of installation art proposals)
Incomplete or incorrect entries will not be considered after the deadline (Saturday, March 10 at 11pm PST)
Artists do not need to attend the Festival to be accepted
The Festival reserves the right to refuse entry to anyone

About the Seattle Erotic Art Festival

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.

The Festival is a jury-selected, erotic fine art exhibition and curated arts festival. Selected art will be showcased over two weekends in June, to up to 10,000 patrons. Our curators and juries select work that is based on quality of execution, originality of subject, and depth of emotion. We strive to be a place that showcases the diversity of human sexual expression and explores the vast creativity that artists use to approach their subjects, a place where art that is rarely seen in mainstream galleries and museums can be celebrated, discussed and supported.

For the second year, the Festival will be held at Fremont Studios. The venue is well-equipped to professionally showcase all art forms, featuring ample space and high-quality lighting for an impressive visual art gallery and large Festival Store, a modern 50-seat movie theater for film, a built-in stage for performance art, and more.

The 10th annual Festival will held across two weekends in June 2012 (June 16-24).

Show Your Love for 2012

2012 will be the Festival’s 10th anniversary, sure to be our biggest and best year yet. We’re expanding the Festival to be two amazing weekends in June, we’re producing our third annual Launch Party before the Festival, as well as Seattle’s sexiest Halloween party Seduction in October, and that’s just a taste of what we have in store for the year ahead.

Be part of making all of this possible.

Share your time with the Festival
Consider volunteering. We can’t do this alone, and what fun would that be anyway? There are lots of opportunities, so learn more and get involved.

Donate
Become a member of the Art Activist Society with an annual gift of $250 or more (with benefits for two people), or make a smaller donation (even a gift of $25 makes a real difference).

Sponsor us
The Festival is an excellent way to reach thousands of people, year-round. Sponsor us and promote your business while supporting a mission you believe in.

Remember, we are a 501c3 nonprofit and your donations are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by the law.

Help change the world through art and celebration: join us!

Join the Festival’s prestigious Art Activist Society. Together we can strengthen our community, support artists across the nation and world, and change the way people think about art, sex and sexuality.

Become a Society member for an annual gift of $250 or more, and receive special benefits while supporting the Festival’s mission and long-term goals. Be part of bringing the Festival to life, and making our 10th anniversary the best year yet.

Learn about our membership levels and join the Society.

Considering giving the gift of a membership for the holidays.

We make an impact.

“Seattle has given birth to something truly amazing, and the world is now listening.”
“The vibe at the Festival is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before.”
“Was just WOW! Thank you!”
“The Festival is a brilliant celebration of art, sexuality and life… a joyful affirmation of acceptance, diversity and delight.”
“Better every time — my must-do social/artistic experience of the year!”
“You continue to show art that stops me in my tracks and makes me think and question what I thought I knew.”
“There are not enough environments in the world of this quality.”
“The Festival is important to sustaining art through diversity of expression.”
“The Festival is a sumptuous feast for the senses. Nothing else I’ve experienced matches its ability to captivate, titillate, and entrance. You will be shocked, you will be inspired, you will be awed, and you will assuredly leave satisfied.”
“The quality, diversity, and sensuality of the art at the Festival is remarkable, memorable, and thoroughly enjoyable!”
“My favorite part of the Festival is finding that one piece of visual art that makes a profound impact on my life in that moment, and that stays with me far beyond when I leave the exhibition…”

An Amazing Year: Thank You!

2011 has been an amazing year of growth for the Festival. Thank you to everyone who has taken part in making this possible: our volunteers, artists, attendees, donors and sponsors. We couldn’t have done it without you!

A few highlights from 2011:

Receiving record numbers of art submissions from all over the nation and world during our Call for Art 2011.
Awarding grants for installation art for the second year, and more money than ever before.
Hosting our second annual Launch Party, which grew from 300 attendees in 2010 to over 900 attendees in 2011.
Moving the ninth annual Festival to Fremont Studios, a gorgeous, modern venue that is well-equipped to professionally showcase all the art forms we feature.
Offering our first full Short Film Exhibition with two unique short film programs curated in partnership with Three Dollar Bill Cinema, producers of The Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, showcased onsite in a modern movie theater.
Creating our first ever Literary Art Anthology, which sold out within a couple of hours and featured the work of all our accepted literary artists.
Increasing attendance to over 6,000 diverse people across our weekend of events (survey feedback showed a broad range of attendee ages, socio-economic levels, and nearly 50% of attendees who completed our survey identified as LGBTQ).
Participating in Arts Crush by offering six events throughout the month-long local arts festival, including collaborations with local artists as well as Christopher Ryan, co-author of the award-winning, New York Times bestseller Sex at Dawn.
Producing Seduction, Seattle’s sexiest Halloween party, with over 1,500 attendees and overwhelmingly positive survey feedback.
And there is much more ahead!

2012 is the Festival’s 10th anniversary, sure to be our biggest and best year yet.

Each year the Festival strives to improve, to better support its artists and attendees. Thank you to everyone who makes this possible. We could not produce these events and achieve our mission and long-term goals with out you.

If you enjoyed this year of events, and want to be part of our 10th anniversary, please considering donating or joining our prestigious Art Activist Society. We greatly appreciate your support.

Did You Enjoy Seduction? Please Take Our Brief Survey

We hope you all had a spectacular time at Seduction. Did you enjoy yourself?

Please take a minute to answer our quick and easy survey.

Your feedback helps us produce better events each and every year. Plus your answers help us apply for grants and sponsorships.

Thank you for attending and taking the time to share your thoughts with us.

Hundreds of Sexy Photos Now LIVE

We are thrilled to announce that over 400 photos of all you sexy Seduction attendees are now live for your enjoyment. Our official event photographers did a beautiful job capturing the evening. Can you find yourself?

Did you use the free photo booths?

Did you take photos in the free photo booths at Seduction? Find yours (and check out everyone else’s hot pics) at ProBooth.com.

Did you take your own photos?

If you brought your own camera and took pictures at Seduction, feel free to share them with our flickr group. Just log in and post them, and peruse what everyone else has shared.

Have you seen our Arts Crush photos?

This year was the first time the Festival participated in Arts Crush. We had a fantastic time putting on five special events throughout October.

Check out all the photos from our La Figa Party, our Dr. Sketchy’s event, and our intimate evening with Christopher Ryan.

We hope you enjoy all the photos from the special events we threw this month. Thank you for attending and being so sexy!

Thank You for Celebrating with Us!

Seduction was a great success! Thank you to all the sexy people who joined us last night.

We want to express our sincere gratitude to all the attendees, volunteers, artists, performers, DJs, sponsors, Fremont Studios, and our producer, the Foundation for Sex Positive Culture, for making this spectacular evening possible.

We couldn’t do it without all of you. (And what fun would that be anyway?)

Keep your eyes out for the stunning photos captured by our event photography team. You won’t want to miss them!

Show Your Love

We are a nonprofit organization. If you enjoyed the event, please support us. Your gift helps the Festival grow. With your support we can take the Festival to new levels.

Let’s create an amazing event together for our 10th anniversary in June.

We also offer a variety of other ways to donate. Learn more about your options.

The Festival is produced by the Foundation for Sex Positive Culture, a 501c3 nonprofit. Any donations made to this event are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law.

Join the Art Activist Society

Help strengthen our community, support artists across the nation and world, and change the way people think about art, sex and sexuality. Join the Festival’s prestigious Art Activist Society.

Members make a real difference, and receive many special benefits. Learn more and become a member.

Thank you again for attending Seduction. We wish you all a delightful Halloween!

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Copyright © 2012 Seattle Erotic Art Festival. All Rights Reserved.