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Deadlines

Be sure to finalize all submissions before the call closes!

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Fees, General Guidelines

Payment of a fee covers all works submitted for a single category, up to the maximum allowed. For example, paying the fee for Visual Art allows you to submit up to 5 artworks, and paying the fee for Literary Art allows you to submit up to 5 written works. If you would like to submit to multiple categories, you must pay a fee for each category. Store, all Performance, and Film submissions do not have a fee.

• The fee for submission under Visual, Interactive, or Literary is $38. You may submit up to 5 pieces of artwork for a single fee.
  
• Early bird fee of $20 available is the first 2 weeks of the Call For Art.
  
• No fee for Stage Performance, Ambient Performance, Aerial & Bondage Performance, Film, or Store.
  
• No fee to apply if you are an artist living outside of North America.

Festival Store

For 2024, all artists wanting to submit work for consideration into the Store must do so during the call for art. Store submissions will not be extended. There is no fee to submit your art for consideration. Store art includes:

All artists who submit works to Visual, Literary, Interactive, Performance, and Film are encouraged to also submit works to the Store. Submitting additional art to the store offers a unique opportunity to artists to sell a greater variety of art, which may not be represented in the juried show. We particularly encourage Interactive and Performance artists to submit physical works to the Festival Store.

General Guidelines

• Artists must make their submissions between December 1, 2024 and January 15, 2025. The submission deadline is Monday, January 15, 2025 at 11 pm PST. Be sure to have all of your information entered on time and correctly as you will not be able to access the system after that date.
• Artists do not need to attend the Festival to be accepted (with the exception of performance artists).
• Artists who reside outside North America, as well as invited artists, do not pay a submission fee.
• Artists may apply for a scholarship for a reduction in the submission fees by emailing director@seaf.art.
• Artists may submit for as many categories as they wish, but note that each Call for Art has distinct requirements and may have additional submission fees.
• We encourage all artists to consider selling work in the Festival Store.
• The Festival Store Manager reserves the right to curate art for sale in the Store.
• Artists may submit work only of their own creation.
• Only electronic entries submitted via our online entry system (Artist Portal) will be accepted. Paper, email, CD, and all other forms of entry will be discarded. Do not under any circumstances send original art as your entry. You will be automatically disqualified from entry and your art will not be returned.
• Submissions may be edited up until the Call for Art closes.
• Submission fees are non-refundable.
• Artist passes are non-transferable.
• All artists must be at least 18 years old as of January 15, 2025

Submission Limits and Formatting Rules

Visual Art Specific Guidelines

All artists 18 years old and over are encouraged to submit works of erotic art in any medium. Sculptors, multimedia artists, painters, and fiber artists are particularly encouraged to apply. Submissions are made through the artist portal, and this art is considered for our juried exhibition.

The Call for Art opens December 1, 2024 and closes January 15, 2025. No submissions or changes to submissions will be accepted after January 15, 2025. For questions, contact artisthelp@seaf.art

• Art previously accepted into or exhibited at the Festival will not be considered for the 2025 exhibition. Works accepted only to the Festival Store may be considered by the jury.
• Up to five (5) pieces may be submitted of any medium. Images must be included with all submissions.
• Submit other prints or merchandise to sell in the Festival Store: up to ten (10) different products may be submitted for consideration of any medium. Images must be included with all submissions.
• Images must be submitted in JPEG format, up to three images per piece of art.
• Any image with a watermark that obscures the image or identifies the artist will be rejected.
• Signatures on original works of art such as paintings and illustrations are allowable.
• Unfinished art or “works in progress” will not be considered by the jury.
• Incomplete or incorrect entries will not be considered after January 15, 2025, when the call for art closes.
• Submissions may be edited up until 11pm PDT on January 15, 2025, when the call for art closes.
• One piece of art per submission, with up to three images of a single piece. For 2D art, only one image is necessary. For 3D art (sculptures, etc.) consider submitting additional images from different angles.
  
• Substitutions are not allowed; the art submitted must be exactly the same as any accepted, delivered art. Delivered art that is different from the art that was selected may not be hung.
  
• Artists must provide a price for each submitted piece.
• Artists may use a pseudonym or professional name; legal names are kept confidential.
• Please be clear during the submission process about which name is to be used publicly. The “Professional Name” submitted will be publicly listed in the Exhibition and in related promotions. If the name on your legal ID is the same as the name you use as an artist, please fill out the “Professional Name” with how you want your name displayed with your art.
  
• Any models depicted in photographs must be at least 18 years old at the time the photograph or image was made.
• All accepted artists who use models in photographs are required to submit a Model Age Certification form. The completed form must be delivered with the art. The Festival will keep this information on file to comply with United States Code, Title 18, Section 2257.
• For all accepted, invited, and store art sold during or as a direct result of the Festival, the Festival receives a 40% commission fee.
• The Festival reserves the right to refuse to hang any piece of art delivered for any reason at any time.

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Literary Art Specific Guidelines

All characters featured in a sexual way must be at least 18 years of age. The SEAF Literary Anthology accepts all genres and styles of work in the following categories: Poetry, Flash, and Short Works. Submissions are made through the artist portal, and literary art is chosen by the Literary Art Curator. Chapter excerpts may be submitted provided it is a comprehensible standalone read.

The call for art opens December 1, 2024 and closes January 15, 2025. No submissions will be accepted after January 15, 2025. No changes will be allowed after the close of the call for art unless it is in order to comply with a request from our editing team. If you have previously published books, chapbooks, or magazines, please submit them to the Festival Store to sell during the event. For questions contact: literary@seaf.art.

• A single literary work per file must be submitted using .doc/.docx file format.
• Literary submissions have a word limit of 1000 words or less for Poetry or Flash, and 1000-5000 words for Short Works.
• Writers may submit pieces that were previously published elsewhere provided they can provide proper assurance or proof that they have retained the rights to their work.
• Submissions must be made in a standard manuscript format: 8.5 x 11 paper size; monospaced font such as Courier, Times New Roman, or Calibri; 0.5 inch indentation at the start of each paragraph for non-poetry works; 1 inch margins; author name (as you would like to be credited), category, and word count on first page with the title of the piece and the page number in the upper right corner of each consecutive page. Submissions not in this format may not be considered.
• No special formatting such a non-monospaced fonts, footnotes, font colors, etc.
• Accepted literary submissions may be returned to the author for edits if the Literary Curator and editing team deem it necessary.
• Submit other books or merchandise to sell in the Festival Store: up to ten (10) different products may be submitted for consideration of any medium. Images must be included with all submissions.
• Artists may use a pseudonym or professional name; legal names are kept confidential. Please only use the name you wish to be publicly credited as in the submission document.
• Please be clear during the submission process about which name is to be used publicly. The “Professional Name” submitted will be publicly listed in the Anthology, Exhibition, and in related promotions.

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Interactive Art Specific Guidelines

Proposals for attended and unattended Interactive Elements are introductory descriptions of something that you think would be an amazing experience at SEAF. You are encouraged to include as much detail as possible. Interactive Elements need not be completed at the time of submitting your proposal, and may be submitted as “ideas.” You may submit up to three (3) proposals. Limited grant funding is available.

Proposals must be initially submitted via Google form. Artists must submit an introductory description of their piece in as much detail as possible for each proposal. Use the bullet list below as a guideline for the information you should be including in your proposal. Attachments, such as photos, concept drawings, and budget spreadsheets, are much appreciated.

Before starting your proposal, be sure to review the SEAF Interactive Element Guidelines to know what is unacceptable and what needs special consideration. Addressing each of these points is required. If something is not applicable to your proposal, please say so. Be prepared to answer questions and provide additional information as part of the selection process.

Proposal Details: Name your project. It is understandable to have only a working title at this stage. Naming your project “untitled” makes it difficult for identification and tracking purposes.

Explicitly describe how one can interact with your project or you.

Are you requesting assistance or material support before or during the festival?

Delivery and installation of your project is expected on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. Describe when you want to schedule your install in order to be ready for the Friday 6pm opening on May 2, 2025.

Identify any power, lighting, or sound needs including, but not limited to, details of wattage, duration, and volume level.

Will your project make use of liquids, gels, food, blood, slime, etc.?

Identify potential allergens, such as latex, peanuts, heavy scents, etc., and information demonstrating how you will be mitigating the impact of these to attendees

Do you intend to include breaking of the skin or involvement of blood or saliva?  Application should include details on how mitigation of contact by others will be achieved, containment, clean up, etc.

Identify any other potential safety hazards associated with your project and how you will mitigate them.

Do you need to secure any of your equipment?  Please note, no one may attach anything to the floors, walls, or ceiling of the facility.

What is your plan for reducing the possibility of transmitting infectious diseases that may be spread through interaction with your project?

There is no theme that we ask artists to work from, however, we have a few special requests for SEAF2025:

• projects that focus on integrating pronoun education and usage at SEAF.
• immersive photo spots to help participant’s create memories & document experiences

While artists must be willing to work closely with the SEAF staff with regard to appropriate lighting, size, materials, safety, etc., artists should be self-sufficient, requiring little to no assistance from SEAF staff to bring your project to fruition. Assistance during set-up and strike must be specifically requested and the type of assistance must be described in detail and in advance. Unfortunately, assistance cannot be guaranteed.

Artists must be available to be on site for installing the interactive element the Wednesday prior to the festival (April 30, 2025) as well as the Sunday evening after the festival for packing up the interactive element (May 4, 2025). Installing of works and removal will be by appointment only, by contacting specialart@seaf.art. Exceptions must be submitted with the proposal along with details as to why an exception is being sought. For questions or additional information on creating a submission for this please email the Exhibition Curator at exhibition@seaf.art.

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Performance Art Specific Guidelines

COVID-19 precautions will particularly affect the structure and format of live performance art at SEAF 2025. SEAF will follow all state and local guidance. We are monitoring guidance specifically pertaining to live performance events. We welcome performance submissions at this time, while recognizing that guidelines, and the risk assessments and choices that individual performers might make, are evolving. Our performance curators will communicate with artists regarding requirements and guidelines for live performance art as they are clarified.

Submissions are made through a Google form, and all performances will be selected by a curatorial team. Selections will be made both from the pool of submissions and by invitation. Performers may be asked by their curator to attend an audition and/or rehearsals, date(s) TBA.  The submission deadline is February 9, 2025 at 11:00pm (PST). Be sure to have all of your information submitted on time and correctly as late submissions will not be accepted. Up to three (3) performance proposals may be submitted. Email non-stage related questions to ambient@seaf.art and aerial & bondage related questions to aerial@seattleerotic.org

• Accepted performers must be at least 21 years old by April 30, 2025.
• Artists may only submit performance art of their own creation.
• Artists must make their submissions between December 1, 2024 and February 9, 2025.

Things to be aware of when creating your profile and proposal:

• Professional / performer name (if different from legal name) can include all performers or be a troupe name.
  
• Be clear about which name you prefer to be billed on schedules and website
  
• Performer/Ensemble Bio
• Promotional photo (If submitting as an ensemble and no group photos exists yet, please indicate this and send a photo representative of the work)
• Performance description (250 words max)
• Supporting materials (please include all available): Photo, Video (YouTube link preferred), Music (if applicable), Performer website URL, Artist’s statement

You are also encouraged to address the following (list is not comprehensive):

• Theme(s)
• Mood and other general aesthetic qualities
• Subject matter
• Performance format
• Duration
• Number of performers
• Costuming
• Props/set pieces needed (and whether you will be able to provide them)
• Technologies used (any additional technology that requires power or sound must be identified prior to acceptance of piece)
• Influencing works, artists, techniques, etc.

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Ambient Performance Art Specific Guidelines

COVID-19 precautions will particularly affect the structure and format of live performance art at SEAF 2025. SEAF will follow all state and local guidance. We are monitoring guidance specifically pertaining to live performance events. We welcome performance submissions at this time, while recognizing that guidelines, and the risk assessments and choices that individual performers might make, are evolving. Our performance curators will communicate with artists regarding requirements and guidelines for live performance art as they are clarified.

Ambient performance at SEAF is art that breaks the 4th wall by using the entire festival floor as the stage and allows our guests an intimate viewing of a performance. Ambient performance artists may roam around the event, make use of cozy corners, as well as busy passageways to create intimate, hyperlocal experiences to delight and challenge festival goers by weaving stories, expressing ideas, and inviting engagement.

Ambient Performances fall into 3 categories:

• Ambient – has a ​specific ​location off of a stage within the event and a short duration
• Roving – no fixed location within the event and can be any time length
• Pop-Up – has infrastructure and a fixed location within the event and a longer duration (If the performance is longer than 45 minutes, then it would be considered an Interactive Element and must be submitted to that curator.)​
• Up to three (3) ambient performance proposals may be submitted. Images must be included with all submissions. The submission deadline is February 9, 2025 at 11:00pm (PST). Please email any questions to ambient@seaf.art

• Accepted performers must be at least 21 years old by April 30, 2025.
• Artists may only submit performance art of their own creation.
• Artists must make their submissions between December 1, 2024 and February 9, 2025.
• Performers will need to attend 1 rehearsal meeting, and final dress rehearsal. Dates of meeting and rehearsals are TBD and exceptions can be made for those submitting from out of state.
• Ambient performance can include dance, movement, improv, spoken word, acoustic music, singing, pure silence, visual art, clever props, technology, costuming, body art, drawing, clowning, and many other forms of expression.
• Professional performance experience is NOT required to be an ambient performer, but professionalism is.
• Performances are compensated with weekend entry passes to the event for yourself and a guest. Limited stipends are available.
  
• If requesting budget for assistance with props or costuming, please include estimates and note if budget assistance is necessary for participation.

Please include the following information in your proposal:

• What you would like to perform for SEAF and how your piece will add to the interactive experience for festival goers.
• Please include any character development, story-line, costuming, and any other details you can provide regarding your performance.
• Technical needs your piece requires in terms of lighting, space, props, etc.
• Your performance background.
• Something that moved you either as a performer or viewer that you’d like to incorporate into your performance to move your viewers at SEAF 2025.
• Please include any visuals of yourself and/or work to get us familiarized with you.

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Film Specific Guidelines

Films are returning to SEAF through the Pan Eros Film Festival! We are partnered with FilmFreeway and our festival posting is now active (https://filmfreeway.com/PanErosFilmFestival). You can create a filmmaker profile and submit your films here. There is no fee to submit your films for consideration. There is no limit to the number of films a filmmaker can submit, so long as your erotic art films meet our submission requirements. For questions please contact: film@seaf.art

• We have two categories this year. Short Film and Silent Film.
  • Short films will be screened in-person at the Pan Eros Film Festival in SIFF Film Center on May 3 and 4, 2025. We strongly encourage story-telling that tells unique narratives across the broad spectrum of gender and human sexuality. Short films of all genres are permitted (fiction, documentary, animated, etc).
  • Silent films will be shown continuously for three full days at the Seattle Erotic Art Festival in Exhibition Hall from May 2 though 4, 2025. Films not intended to be silent films at their creation but have audio removed are acceptable as entries.
• All performers must be 18 years of age or older at time of production.
• All entries must be under 15 minutes in length.
• All projects must be original works and submitted through FilmFreeway by March 1, 2025. If music is used, you must have the rights to the music used in your film.
• Unfinished films will not be considered.
• Filmmakers will be notified of their Selection Status by March 15, 2025.

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Store Art/Merchandise Specific Guidelines

For 2024, all artists wishing to  submit work for consideration into the Store must do so during the call for art. Store submissions will not be extended. There is no fee to submit your art for consideration. Art includes: prints, postcards, photos, small canvas prints, small framed works of art, jewelry, books, magazines, handmade goods, ceramics, sculptures, etc. All artists who submit works to any of the other art categories are encouraged to also submit works to the Store. Submitting additional art to the store offers a unique opportunity for artists to sell a greater variety of art, which may not be represented in juried show. All artists 18 years old or older may submit to the Festival Store. Artists may submit up to 10 items or products to the Store, in quantities from 1 to 20 per item, with a maximum price of $300. For questions please contact: store@seaf.art

• Artists may submit up to 10 different items to the Store (e.g. postcards, prints, posters, jewelry, statues, etc), with a quantity ranging from 1 to 20 of each item.
• All merchandise must arrive ready for display. Barcodes will be mailed or emailed out to accepted artists prior to the Festival. Artists must affix barcodes to the art for sale in order to be sold in the Festival Store. Art that arrives without barcodes affixed will not be available for sale in the Festival Store. Proper presentation is the responsibility of the artist.
• Each individual item need not be submitted for approval. Similar items that are the same price may be grouped together; a representative sampling is acceptable. (For example, if you want the Store to feature three different postcards with a quantity of 10 each, then create one submission entry for a postcard and say the quantity is 20, and then in the notes section say that there are three different images for those postcards.)
• All art featured in the Festival Store will be curated by the Store Manager, and is selected and showcased at the discretion of the Festival.
• Unfinished art or “works in progress” will not be considered.
• Art previously displayed at the Festival may be considered for the 2024 Festival Store.
• Prints should have a stiff backing and be in packages in clear, protective packaging, such as cellophane sleeves, etc.
• Accepted artists are encouraged to provide display units for their work. Any small items such as (post)cards or jewelry should, if possible, be accompanied by an appropriate display.
• Work will be displayed on a space available basis. Efforts will be made to display a sample of everything supplied.
• The Festival reserves the right to refuse or limit items displayed depending on space availability.

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