Seattle Erotic Art Festival
{{Promotional|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox recurring event
|name = Seattle Erotic Art Festival
|logo = SEAFlogoBW.jpg
|logo_alt =
|image =
|alt =
|caption =
|status = Active
|genre = Festival
|date =
|begins =
|ends =
|frequency = Annually
|venue =
|location = 301 Mercer Street, Seattle, WA 98109
|coordinates = {{Coord|47|37|26.66|N|122|21|5.57|W}}
|country = USA
|years_active = {{age| 2003}}
|first = {{start date|2003}}
|founder_name =
|last =
|prev = April 26–28, 2024
|next =
|participants =
|attendance =
|capacity =
|area =
|budget =
|activity =
|leader_name =
|patron =
|organised =
|filing =
|people =
|member =
|sponsor =
|website = {{URL|https://www.seaf.art/}}
|current =
|footnotes =
}}
The Seattle Erotic Art Festival was founded in 2002 and is the flagship program of the nonprofit Pan Eros Foundation.
The Festival supports a vibrant creative community, promotes freedom of expression, and fosters sex-positive culture through public celebration of the arts.{{Cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Russell C. |last2=Foster |first2=Michael |date=2015-04-09 |title=What makes Seattle so sexy? |url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/reinvent-yourself/201504/what-makes-seattle-so-sexy |access-date=2024-07-02 |website=Psychology Today |language=en}}
It is an annual weekend-long event, and showcases erotic art in diverse media including painting, photography, sculpture, film, literature, and interactive installations. A wide range of performance art is also represented, including burlesque, ballroom dance, circus arts, and live music.
The Festival also features an expansive store which sells original works, prints, oddities, collectibles and related merchandise from contributing artists.{{Cite web |last=Cascone |first=Sarah |date=2019-08-05 |title=Do You Have Unusual Taste? Here Are 14 Highly Eccentric Annual Art Gatherings That You Might Enjoy Attending |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/worlds-most-eccentric-art-gatherings-1616260 |access-date=2024-07-02 |website=Artnet News |language=en-US}}
History
The first Seattle Erotic Art Festival was held in 2003.{{cite web | url=https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/seattle-erotic-art-festival-marks-its-10th-anniversary/ | title=Seattle Erotic Art Festival marks its 10th anniversary | access-date=October 26, 2024 | date=June 12, 2012 | last=Upchurch | first=Michael}} The inaugural show was hosted by the Pan Eros Foundation (formerly the Foundation for Sex Positive Culture) at the town hall in the Capitol Hill neighborhood and saw over 1000 attendees.{{Cite web |title=Our History |url=https://www.seattleerotic.org/us/about-us/ |access-date=2024-07-02 |website=Seattle Erotic Art Festival |language=en-US}}
The Festival was hosted at a variety for locations over its first few years, including Fremont Studios{{Cite web |title=Announcing Our 2011 Theme: Red Light District » May 20-22, 2011 |url=http://seattle-erotic.org/2011/04/04/hello-world-2-2/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110517025725/http://seattle-erotic.org/2011/04/04/hello-world-2-2/ |archive-date=2011-05-17 |access-date=2011-05-19 |website=Seattle Erotic Art Festival}} before finding a more permanent location at the Seattle Center Exhibition hall, where it's been held since 2008.{{cite web | url=https://www.thestranger.com/visual-art/2018/04/25/26085893/seeing-the-seattle-erotic-art-festival-just-became-a-political-act | title=Seeing the Seattle Erotic Art Festival Just Became a Political Act | date=April 25, 2018 | access-date=October 26, 2024 | first=Katie | last=Kurtz}}
Content
Past festivals have included original theatrical productions,{{Cite web |date=2010-02-16 |title=Seattle Erotic Art Festival presents CABARET DE CURIOSITÉS written and directed by Roger Benington |url=http://seattleerotic.org/press/release/2010-02-16 |access-date=2024-07-02 |website=Seattle Erotic Art Festival {{!}} April 30 - May 2, 2010 |archive-date=2010-03-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100328130445/http://seattleerotic.org/press/release/2010-02-16 |url-status=bot: unknown }} interactive art installations{{Cite web |date=2010-04-12 |title=How erotic is your bed? |url=http://seattleerotic.org/news/how-erotic-is-your-bed |access-date=2024-07-02 |website=Seattle Erotic Art Festival |archive-date=2010-04-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100412195456/http://seattleerotic.org/news/how-erotic-is-your-bed |url-status=dead }} and visual erotic art.{{Cite web |last=Upchurch |first=Michael |date=2012-06-22 |title=Seattle Erotic Art Festival marks its 10th anniversary |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/seattle-erotic-art-festival-marks-its-10th-anniversary/ |access-date=2024-07-02 |website=The Seattle Times |language=en-US}}
Each year, festival visitors and a selected jury vote for Viewer's Choice and Jury Awards, respectively.{{Cite web |title=And the exhibition art winners are… » May 20-22, 2011 |url=http://seattle-erotic.org/2011/06/01/and-the-exhibition-art-winners-are/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608131719/http://seattle-erotic.org/2011/06/01/and-the-exhibition-art-winners-are/ |archive-date=2011-06-08 |access-date=2011-06-08 |website=Seattle Erotic Art Festival}}
Controversies
In 2007, Festival organizers were turned down by "a dozen" regional publishers who refused to print their program before finding a local printer who would take the job.{{cite web | url=https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/seattle-erotic-art-festival-gets-nude-awakening-1231510.php | title=Seattle Erotic Art Festival gets nude awakening | access-date=October 26, 2024 | date=March 16, 2007 | last=Jamieson Jr | first=Robert}}
External links
- [https://www.seaf.art/ Seattle Erotic Art Festival homepage]
- [https://www.pan-eros.org/ Pan-Eros Foundation homepage]