About The Erotic Arts Project

To be creative is to be erotic, to be erotic is to be creative.

The Erotic Arts Project centers queer erotic and creative embodiment through trauma-informed somatic sex education and creative practices that support an individual and/or group's relationship to the body. Courses, workshops, and webinars presented through The Erotic Arts Project will provide you with the tools and resources to center creativity and erotic pleasure so you feel vibrant, sensual, curious, magical, and playful. 

Many of us have been told by our families, our communities, and our cultures, that our erotic and creative lives are not important or valuable. This message can land in our bodies as shame and can make us feel judgmental about our bodies, sexuality, and creative work. This message stifles feelings of aliveness and replaces it with feelings of dullness, resentment, and/or yearning for "something more". The Erotic Arts Project honors your eroticism and connection to your body, creativity, joy, and holds these elements as important, valuable and worthy.

About River

River is a queer non-binary femme and creator of The Erotic Arts Project, a program that celebrates the creative and erotic body of queer, trans, and non-binary artists and activists. They are an SSEA Certified Somatic Sex Educator and IASHS Certified Sexological Bodyworker with a private practice in The San Francisco Bay Area, Ohlone Territory. Their work is dedicated to honoring the myriad of identities that live in queer bodies and they are committed to supporting queer creative and erotic wellness. They believe in artists, both those who claim this identity and those who don't. They firmly believe that celebrating our bodies and desires gives us the freedom to lovingly and joyfully meander around into the glorious depths of our creative worlds.   

Education and Facilitation:

  • Alfred University, Alfred, NY, B.A., Fine Arts and Design (2009)

  • The Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality, San Francisco, CA, Certified Sexological Bodyworker (2013)

  • The Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality, San Francisco, CA, Certified Sexological Bodyworker Training, Teaching Assistant (Spring 2014)

  • The Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality, San Francisco, CA, Certified Sexological Bodyworker Training, Teaching Assistant (Fall 2014)

  • Cleo DuBois Academy of SM Arts, San Francisco, CA, Erotic Dominance Intensive: The Pro Course (2015)

  • Betty Martin's Like A Pro Course, Berkeley, CA, Wheel of Consent for Practitioners (2015)

  • The Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality, San Francisco, CA, Certified Sexological Bodyworker Training, Co-Teacher (2016)

  • Somatic Sex Educators Association, Victoria, BC, Canada, Certified Somatic Sex Educator (2016)

  • Somatic Sex Educators Association, Victoria, BC, Canada, Certified Somatic Sex Educator Training, Teaching Assistant (2016)

  • The Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality, San Francisco, CA, Certified Sexological Bodyworker Training, Co-Teacher (2017)

  • Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercises, Bay Area, CA, (currently enrolled)