About the Artist Awards
The Erotic Art Awards were established by NLA in 2019 and first presented in 2020. They were proposed by Vince Andrews, former President and artist with the intent to complete the recognition of our culture entirely. The committe that helped to select, and research the award names was the initial LIL Committee made up of Vince as chair, Jubi, girl Alayna, and Lady Jeanna. While other erotic art awards have existed, the NLA hoped that through the Living in Leather they could bring more awareness to those artists that have a BDSM/Leather/Fetish focus within their work. Sex and sexuality have often been expressed in art just as it has in literature as well as activism. We strongly feel that artists contribute a voice to this culture and we hope to continue to recognize them we move forward.
Each year at the Living In Leather gathering the awards are given in the following categories;
Chéri Hérouard - Realism Clovis Trouille - Surrealism Gene Bilbrew - Animation Aubrey Beardsley - Abstract Michael Kirwan - Expressionism
Please use the nomination link below to find our more information.
Artists
Catagories are:
• Chéri Hérouard – Realism
• Clovis Trouille – Surrealism
• Gene Bilbrew- Animation (includes illustrations and comics)
• Aubrey Beardsley- Abstract
• Michael Kirwan- Expressionism
Submission requirements:
• Nominations start November 1 thru Dec 31st.
• Artist may self-nominate, if they are nominated by the public, they must accept nomination between Jan 1st and ending January 31st
• Nominations for the Art Awards are FREE.
• What medium the work is made in does not matter, it must only fit the category.
• Artists must submit work that is newly created within 365 days prior to the end of nominations of Dec 31st.
• Artist must provide judges photos of the work they wish to submit for their nomination by no later than February 28th.
• All finalist will be announced before Living In Leather after April 1st.
• Winners will be announced at the Living In Leather meeting.
• Biography, photo of the cover, photo of the artist, and a brief description of works, and contact information must accompany the nomination.
• Color CMYK format at 300dpi graphic of art submission and a release must be submitted before judging, this allows us one-time printing rights to recognize the work in our First Link Magazine, and promotional material of the author and the work for the year it is awarded.
• Failure to submit releases will result in disqualification.
• Artists are required to acknowledge original artists of any work they gleam, duplicate in another medium, or recreate. Failure to do so will result in removal from the contest. Should a selected winner be found later to have gleamed and not reported this to the judges, the winner shall repay the entire financial prize and no longer claim their awarded titles.
• All the Finalists must donate to the Living in Leather event the original work that was nominated for the silent auction during the event weekend.
• Prints being sold at Living In Leather shall be smaller in size than the original work to ensure the original work is given the best price at auction.
• Space will be limited to 3x5 spot area for each finalist and must confirm to guarantee a spot in advance. Spaces are first come first serve.
• All originals are to be shipped to the Living In Leather Coordinator no later than one month before the event if the artist is unable to attend. Attending artists may also pre-ship their artwork if they need.
• Living In Leather does not assume liability or responsibility for lost or damaged art during shipment. Living In Leather is not responsible for shipping the artwork back, the artist should have a plan in place with the Co-Ordinator should this need to be done.
• The finalists that are not winners understand that the donated works and the money raised in the silent auction for their nominated work will also be divided up for the winners.
Artists Award Winner's Prize:
• Winners will be given a page to highlight their work, bio, photo, and links to sell their books through their own links within our website.
• A plaque of the recipient’s name and artwork title being awarded.
• Winners will have the right to use an award graphic for their specific artist award and year, to attach to their cover art or websites.
• Living In Leather will circulate postcards with the winning artists' artwork printed on one side, artist and award information published on the reverse to hand out at Living In Leather and ship to chapters for advertisements.
• Winners will receive a one-year free Commercial membership of the NLA International, and the rights of voting, as well as advertising, included. Example, web banner and use of posts through NLA social media.
• Winners will have a chance to be interviewed for our First Link Magazine and marketed for the year to our membership. This magazine is archived on our site for future reference in PDF. Artwork may be used in the magazine or on the cover for that issue.
• Money raised from the art auction shall be divided up between the winners of each category and Living In Leather Project to help offset the cost of awards and meeting space just like the writing awards. All money will be placed in one pool, 80% of total funds will be divided equally among winning artists. The remaining 20% will go for toward the next year funding and advertising for awards. Payment will be made within 7 days of the auction.
• Winning Judges agree to serve on the committee to judge the following year’s nominations and submissions.
• All finalists have the right sell prints of their nominated artwork at Living In Leather’s gathering and are encouraged to also vend at the host event.