The Seattle Erotic Art Festival encourages you to not only view art, but to embody art through conversation, education, and action. Over the course of the weekend, we’ll offer numerous conversations, art tours, and lectures on a range of topics related to art, sexuality, identity, and/or eroticism. Take a gander at our options; all of these wonderful experiences are included in the price of your festival ticket.
SEAF 2022 art tours are led by carefully selected artists and art enthusiasts. Go on a journey throughout the festival, viewing art through their personal “lens”. By the time you’ve completed your tour, you’ll find that with erotic art, there’s more than meets the eye. Take a look at our Festival Schedule to plan out your itinerary with the full list of art tours. Note: all tours start at the Art Docent Lounge, next to the Big Red Light Wall.
Today Through Yesterday’s Lens: The Return By ARK
An installation with assisted viewings on Friday, April 29, 6:00pm-8:00pm, Saturday, April 30, 2:00pm-4:00pm and 6:00pm-9:00pm, and Sunday, May 1, 1:00pm-2:00pm.
The exhibit will feature 30 brand new stereo images of 7 models shot using a variety of antique and contemporary “stereo” cameras and made into “stereo cards” to view through a turn of 20th century viewer. Come by at scheduled times and there will be models from the piece assisting attendees with viewing the stereocards in all their three-dimensional glory through the antique stereo viewer.
Me by Me, by David Peterman
An installation, open Friday, April 29, and Saturday, April 30, from 8:00pm-12:00am.
Me by Me is a fun and participatory installation – part photo booth, part art studio. This project asks participants to draw a life-size nude rendering of themselves and then to pose nude for a photo alongside their creation.
Art Tours with Skitty
A tour of the exhibition art. “Do You See What I See?” is on Friday, April 29, at 8:30 pm and Sunday, May 1, at 12:30 pm. “Food for Thought” is on Saturday, April 30, at 5:30 pm.
“Do You See What I See?” – Art as a personal experience. When an artist creates, they have an idea, inspiration, or purpose in mind. When they release that art out to the world, it takes on a life of its own. Each individual who experiences that artwork makes their own personal connection; informed by their own history, understanding, and interpretation. Let’s explore the exhibition together and share our relationship with art.
“Food for Thought” – Indulge, devour, feast! How does art nourish you? Do you revel in the experience? What fills your heart, mind, and soul when you experience art? When is this healthy and when might this be problematic? Let’s ask and answer these questions as we graze the cornucopia that is SEAF!
Skitty is a lifelong educator, now a full time volunteer, splitting her time between several Seattle nonprofits. She lives in Woodinville, WA and is the current President of the Board of Directors for the Center for Sex Positive Culture. This is her third year as a Docent at SEAF, after several years spent volunteering in other capacities, and as an enthusiastic attendee. She loves to talk about art, consent, and all things sex positive.
Erotic Fantasy Tales
A workshop on exploring creating and performing written works of art with Kim Holden on Saturday, April 30, at 1:00 pm.
The medium of erotic writing is an opportunity to discover your deepest desires. Erotic Fantasy Tales is a curated program of adult imagination shared through tales of fantasy. Fantasy is what can arise when the mind is free of judgement, shame and opinion.
Fantasy helps to:
• Build brain maps
• Integrates neural networks
• Expand sensual response to the environment
• Dispel shame of sexual desires
• Connect brain and body to pleasure
We can listen, imagine, and learn about our own sexuality from another’s story. Sometimes, it is a big turn on! Sometimes, it’s a new idea to consider. It is always an opportunity to honor each other and our unique flavors of arousal and sexy ignition! This can also be a healing activity, helping others learn the power of a yes and no, consent and agreement. Fantasy can always stay in the imagined world. This session is presented as an education workshop, using erotic fantasy and storytelling as a portal to see what turns us on, what motivates us and what can even help us heal. All of this is possible when a safe container is created for discovering and sharing what lies just under the surface of our tangible language. We will use the SEAF exhibition as a source of inspiration and cover the steps to becoming a performer of your own writing.
Kim Holden guides singles and couples to untangle feelings of unworthiness, shame, and invisibility to connect with their power, confidence and own unique sexiness! She holds exquisite space for humans to open up and access their authentic pleasure and truth. Kim’s classes and events invite openness, revelations, deep learning, and FUN! Learn more about Kim’s work at her website.
Humor in Eroticism
An art tour with Peter Big, disability advocate, and 2017 juror for the Seattle Erotic Art Festival.
Peter, aka Mr. Big, is a Seattle resident and lifetime disability advocate, as well as a sex-positive educator, model, actor, and exotic dancer. Mr. Big is a long time fan of the Seattle Erotic Art Festival, and has put in his hours as a volunteer, a performer, and a docent. He will be examining and talking on humor in sex and all things erotic.
Breaking the Gender Binary
A reading and discussion with Sumu (Su) Tasib, author of A Boy Named Su on Saturday, April 30, 3:00 pm.
The world desperately wants to fit us into neat little boxes – male or female, straight or gay, he/she or they/them. Once we’ve been placed in the appropriate category, we become a known quantity, and no longer worthy of curiosity or further questions. The reality, though, is so much more complex, and so much more beautiful: a rich universe of gender identity, gender expression, gender attraction, and so much more. So how can we create the curiosity in others – and in ourselves – to look beyond the gender binary? How can we freely live our full genders despite the dangers that may entail, and how can we best hold space for and support others as they grow into their full gender expression? In this session, Sumu (Su) Tasib will lead a wide-ranging discussion on gender exploring these questions and more, beginning with a reading of Chapter 25, “The Girl You’ll Never Know,” from their 2020 book A Boy Named Su: Stories from a Journey into Genderqueerness.
Su is no stranger to these waters: they are a genderqueer author and scientist whose writing focuses on topics of gender, sexuality, relationships, and social justice. In addition to their book, they are also the author of several short stories, including “Through the Walls,” selected for inclusion in SEAF 2022; you can find both at the SEAF store. For more information about Su, their writings, and their podcast of queer stories (Queer Kahani), visit their website, https://queerkahani.com. Su uses he/they pronouns.
Naughty Letters 101
A workshop on letter writing with Clea Salar, author of Frost Flower and Violet Fog, on Saturday, April 30, at 4:00 pm.
There’s something slightly intimidating about writing a naughty letter. It’s like pillow talk, but there’s a record of it forever. At the same time, there’s also something very exciting about it. It’s a fantastic tease, a romantic gesture, and can be very seductive. Anthology author and SEAF alumni, Clea Salar, will take you on a crash course through the art of writing flirty, sensuous, and absolutely filthy letters. This class will cover everything from determining what mood you’re wanting to set to picking your favorite euphemisms, and making sure to avoid unsexy typos and word confusion.
Clea Salar is a freelance writer, novelist (she can say that now, there’s a novel!), enormous geek, and general sassy pants. She has a BA in Professional and Creative Writing from CWU, and is currently a Master’s Candidate for an MFA in Creative Writing. She also doesn’t necessarily think any of this matters for writing naughty letters, but understands that when you’re teaching a class it’s nice to have credentials. She also wrote this class description, and thinks she’s funny.
Clitaurus Chronicles
Storytime style reading with Breona Mendoza on Saturday, April 30, at 6:00pm and Sunday, May 1 at 1:30pm.
Clitaurus Chronicles is an illustrated sex education story book centering the experience of Clitty, the clitaurus, as she journeys to find her climax. Clitaurus Chronicles was born out of a desire to make sex education material more playful, accessible, and inclusive. The author, Breona Mendoza, is a pleasure activist, sex therapist and avid supporter of self-love in all respects of the word. Danny Tayara, the illustrator, has built their career as an artist and film maker centering the experiences of queer and trans communities. Breona and Danny hope that creating this book is that it helps people reflect on their own journey to understand their bodies and relationships through the eyes and experiences of Clitty. They centered the experience of clits because clitorises are often left out of sex education in schools, erased in the media, and excluded from medical research and practice. This needs to change. They hope Clitty’s story can inspire others to think about and share their own journey toward self-love and pleasure. Clitaurus Chronicles is a queer collaboration and contains various characters that transgress the spectrum of sexuality and gender. As queer creators Breona and Danny wanted to see our bodies and experiences represented and hope this book inspires more folks to put their stories out there too!
To find out more, check them out at https://clitauruschronicles.com/ or on Instagram @clitauruschronicles.
We will be having a Story Time with Clitty in our Literary Lair on Saturday at 6pm and Sunday at 1:30pm. Copies of Clitaurus Chronicles will be available for purchase in the store. Breona Mendoza will be doing a book signing after each story time so make sure to have your copies ready. Don’t miss your chance to meet the creator of Clitty and to get your very own copy of Clitaurus Chronicles.
#Consentacles
A reading and discussion about erotica and consent on Sunday, May 1, at 12:30 pm.
As an anime fan from back in the day, Clea Salar used to think tentacles were weird but kinda hot. In a ropes-that-can-grab-you kind of way. As she got older, though, it became more clear that it was all…well…kinda rapey. Consent was dubious at best. Her partner and co-writer, Tallis Salar, was an even bigger fan of anime, and absolutely on board for writing stories about tentacles that asked first.
#Consentacles will start with a reading from Violet Fog, Clea and Tallis’s latest novella, followed by a discussion about tentacles, dubcon, making consent sexy, and the fantasy elements in all forms of erotica. Copies of Violet Fog will be available in the store; this is a limited edition print run of exactly 15 copies for the Seattle Erotic Art Festival’s 20th Anniversary. Violet Fog will never be printed as a solitary work again, though will be released in an anthology later this year.