Hello there, you savvy artists and discerning art lovers! The Call for Art is chugging along, about two-thirds of the way to the deadline. We thought we’d interrupt your mad scramble during the holidays and invite you to take a breath. Drink some water. See if there are any cookies left (and if not, go get you some). Oh, and come meet our 2025 Visual Art Jury!
2025 Visual Art Jury
Rae Akino
Seattle and D.C. based, self-taught visual artist. What began as a coping mechanism for depression and anxiety became a lens to examine and understand the world. Being closeted, a slave to others expectations, and losing one of the most important people to their existence caused a mental, emotional, and spiritual paralysis. The need to escape turned into isolation, until they were encouraged to draw their way out of it.
Influenced by music, theater, literature, film, life, people, etc; the DC native uses bold colors and expressive form to explore identity, sexuality, Afrocentrism, spirituality, mental health/ awareness, consciousness, and self. Centering the viewer into an emotional, mental, and spiritual connection with themselves opens the door to endless possibilities. Awakening desensitized emotions lead to the questions that spark conversations.
Living in a society where boxes and labels are a way of life, forces one to hide and resent the parts of themselves that are not accepted. Never being strictly one thing or another fostered the realization that “I am all things” “We are all things”.
Sandra
Sandra (she/her) resides in the Pacific Northwest, having called Seattle home since the early 1980s. She has been a member of the sex positive community for nearly two decades and has participated in SEAF as an Art Activist almost as long.
Sandra is very grateful to Pan Eros and SEAF for promoting a safe space for erotic art and admires artists that take concrete steps to realize their vision. She is honored to serve as a juror for SEAF, an event with amazing tradition and stature.
Stella Harris
Stella Harris is a certified intimacy educator, professional coach, trained mediator, and published author focused on communication & relationships. Stella’s wide-ranging expertise has led to being featured on the evening news discussing the importance of sex education in schools, appearing as an expert witness in court, and even speaking as an authority on banana slug mating habits. Learn more about Stella and her books, Tongue Tied: Untangling Communication in Sex, Kink, and Relationships and The Ultimate Guide to Threesomes on her website, www.stellaharris.net, or follow @stellaharriserotica on Instagram.
DasBee
As a passionate art collector and advocate, DasBee has been a driving force in celebrating the transformative power of artistic expression. Since joining the Seattle Erotic Art Festival (SEAF) planning committee in 2020 and the steering committee in 2023, she has served as SEAF’s Marketing Lead and Performance Co-Curator, merging her love of art with her expertise in event branding and audience engagement.
To Das, art is the purest form of self-expression, a mirror reflecting the human experience in all its beauty and complexity. SEAF holds a special place in her heart as one of her most cherished projects, embodying her belief that creativity thrives in spaces of freedom and exploration.
With over 15 years in the performing arts and a deep connection to the visual arts, Das brings a dynamic and thoughtful perspective to the jury, honoring the stories and emotions that art invites us to share.
Greg Rubin
Greg Rubin comes from a family of art collectors and has spent his life surrounded by art. As an artistic omnivore, fine art hangs between pieces made by friends or purchased at a coffee shop. When friends invited him to see their work displayed at SEAF 2006, he discovered the world of erotic art and wanted more of it in his life. Over the last nineteen years he has regularly participated in SEAF as a volunteer, performer, author, Art Activist, and, of course, collector. The festival has become a core part of his calendar, and each year he explores it and learns new ways to answer the question of “What is erotic?”
Guest Curator for Comics
Nero Villagallos O’Reilly
Nero is a Seattle-based indigenous Latino cartoonist with 10+ years in the erotic comics scene. His comics use the framework of gratification, sexual and psychosexual, to tell stories about gay men’s lives. They tread the line of known and unknown horrors, often encouraging the reader to draw their own parallels between fear and arousal. They also prominently feature discussions around BDSM, hedonism, and the frightening world of the food industry.
His fiction and non-fiction work has been published by Slipshine, Filthy Figments, Iron Circus Comics, Fortuna Media, The Nib, Real Change, and more. He is also one of the founders of The Cartoonist Cooperative, an organization that seeks to improve working conditions for cartoonists everywhere.
The 2025 Visual Art Jury can only see your art if it is submitted before the deadline! The Call for Art closes on January 15. It’s not too late, my darlings! These fabulous humans are excited to see your art! If you have any questions, please feel free to go check out our Call for Art pages, which are just full of information (as well as a handy video tutorial on how to use the portal). If that fails, you can always contact info@seaf.art.