A number of Bay Area artists who deal in erotic and kinky themes raised nearly $2,500 for Japanese disaster relief in a recent sale and auction of artwork in San Francisco.
Mark I. Chester, a longtime gay-radical sex photographer and one of the event organizers, said the March 27 fundraiser called Shibari Relief brought in $2,478.
Other participating artists included photographers Patti Beadles and Michael Rosen as well as Shilo McCabe.
All donations went to the American Red Cross, specifically to its efforts toward helping victims of the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear power accidents in Japan. The fundraiser is over but Chester says the website will remain active, with links to other ways people can help.
"While the funds we raised are only a drop in the bucket compared with what is needed," Chester wrote in an e-mail message, "it felt good to provide what support and help we were capable of giving rather than just sitting on the side and shaking our heads."
