It’s cold in the Pacific Northwest today, so how about a little erotic art news to warm you up? Now that our Artists Portal is open, we’d like to announce our incredible panel of visual art jurors for #SEAF2017! As usual, our picks come from extremely diverse backgrounds, but they all share a love and enthusiasm for erotic art (don’t we all?). Read more about our great jurors, and be on the lookout for more news as we ramp up for the festival!
In no particular order…
Miranda K. Metcalf received her undergraduate degree from the University of Washington in philosophy with a focus in aesthetics. She went on to receive her master’s in Art History from the University of Arizona in Tucson and wrote her thesis on the animals found in prints designed by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. She has worked in numerous contemporary art institutions and non-profits including the Smithsonian’s Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. and the Pima Arts Council in Tucson, Arizona. Miranda took the position as director of the contemporary department at Davidson Galleries in Seattle, Washington in 2012.
Peter, aka Mr. Big, is a Seattle resident and lifetime disability advocate, as well as a sex-positive educator, model, actor, exotic dancer, and an annual guest artist at Seattle’s Teatro Zinzanni. He was also a member and the Manager of Operations at a local world-renowned Adult Social Club for 10 years.
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 considers it an honor to be asked to join the jury for SEAF 2017, and looks forward to seeing a wide variety of subjects, mediums, and artists in this year’s submissions. It is also his great hope that the artists of the disability community will share their work and participate in this event.
A lover of the arts and no stranger to theatrics, Mr. Big will be co-hosting and stripping for Seattle audiences in the coming months, as well as returning to the Teatro Zinzanni stage for their late-night show.
Living in the Capitol Hill area of Seattle and frequently traveling around the world, D. began collecting works of erotic art several years ago. With a penchant for the darker sides of the human psyche, he is particularly drawn to art which steps outside of social norms and challenges our assumptions about about race, gender, power, and our relationships with each other.
Lee Harrington is an internationally known spiritual and erotic authenticity educator, gender explorer, eclectic artist and award-winning author and editor on erotic and sacred experience. He is a nice guy with a disarmingly down to earth approach to the fact that we are each beautifully complex ecosystems, and we deserve to examine the human experience from that lens.
In addition to his writing and teaching, Lee is the host of the Passion And Soul Podcast that has been running since January 2011, covering topics on the intersection of sacred sex, kink, and life exploration as a multifaceted soul. He has also been an invited guest on numerous other podcasts and radio shows as well, and loves reaching a variety of folks through this fantastic media. His blog, running since 1998, is still a passionate project, having shifted over time as his life has evolved.
When not teaching, touring, blogging, writing, podcasting, or appearing in video, Lee is also a performance artist, shamanic practitioner, and sacred sex ritualist. As a spirit worker, shamanic practitioner and ritualist, he has offered private exploration intensives, done individual rites (such as officiating weddings and collaring ceremonies), created unique experiences, and offered professional domination. These all tie into his published and gallery-show work as a photographer, his internationally shown biographical one-performer show “Creature on a Quest,” and his published poetry collection On Starry Thighs: Sacred and Sensual Poetry. You can learn more about Lee at: http://passionandsoul.com
With more than a dozen years of #makingSEAFgo, Leila Anasazi has had time to wear many hats, this year adding the role of juror to the list which includes: performer; artist (invited, juried, and installation); exhibition designer and builder; and art docent, as well as handling a wide range of the admin stuff that is seldom seen.
Trained as a sociologist, Leila explores how communication can effect and affect social change. Believing that art is a powerful form of communication, she is earnest about the power of the Festival to reveal for us things we did not know — about each other, and ourselves.
As an artist and an art and antiques collector, she an eye for the nuances of life and beauty, and an appreciation for the superbly and soulfully crafted. The combination of these traits with her deep history of the Festival will prove beneficial as she serves in her new role on the jury.
Welcome to the Visual Art Jury for #SEAF2017!
Our jurors are delighted to view and select the sexy, tantalizing, thought-provoking, and creative art submissions provided by the many talented artists out there. For more information about submitting your art for the jury’s pleasure, visit our FAQ page or read more about the call for art here.
We can’t wait for you to feast your eyes on our gallery of visual art in April! While you’re waiting, feel free to check out our festival guide for more information about the event as it becomes available!