AAC presents an evening with Beth Stephens and Annie Sprinkle at the Woodward Theater
Art Academy of Cincinnati (AAC) invites the public to an unforgettable evening of film, conversation, and community centered on environmental intimacy, radical joy, and artistic activism. The program features a screening of Playing with Fire: An Ecosexual Emergency, followed by a live conversation with celebrated, seminal artists and filmmakers Beth Stephens and Annie Sprinkle, moderated by Sarah Stolar, Academic Dean of Art Academy of Cincinnati.
The evening begins at 6:00 PM with a Pre-Screening Artist Reception, offering attendees an informal opportunity to meet Stephens and Sprinkle, connect with fellow guests, and browse event merchandise before the screening. At 7:00 PM, the feature documentary explores the artists’ long-running ecosexual practice—an imaginative and provocative call to reframe environmentalism through pleasure, love, and embodied connection to the Earth.
At 8:15 PM, Stephens and Sprinkle will join Stolar for an in-depth Q&A, reflecting on the film, their collaborative practice, and the role of artists in responding to ecological crisis. The conversation will be followed by a special auction of an original artwork by Stephens and Sprinkle, offering a rare opportunity to collect work by the artists while supporting AAC.
The celebration continues at 8:45 PM with an afterparty at Motor Pub, where attendees can gather with the artists and AAC community to close out the night.
Tickets are limited to 100 and available in three tiers, allowing guests to choose their level of engagement while supporting AAC’s public programming. General Admission tickets provide access to the full program, while patron and VIP tiers include drinks, limited artist keepsakes, and, at the highest level, a signed book by Stephens and Sprinkle. Guests will also have the option at checkout to make an additional donation supporting AAC scholarships, faculty and program excellence, facilities, and community programming. Parking add-ons will be available for convenience.
This event reflects the Art Academy of Cincinnati’s commitment to presenting bold, socially engaged art experiences that foster dialogue, connection, and creative thinking—on campus and beyond.
ABOUT THE FILM
Playing with Fire: An Ecosexual Emergency is a joyous, mythopoetic documentary born from the ashes of California’s devastating wildfires. When lightning ignites the redwood forests surrounding their home in Boulder Creek, longtime lovers and artist-activists Beth Stephens and Annie Sprinkle are forced to evacuate with their dog, Butch—and their lives are forever transformed. They don’t just survive the CZU Fire—they are changed by it.
Blending loss and grief with art, humor, intimacy, and community care, the film unfolds through an ecosexual lens—imagining the Earth as a lover—while weaving stories from formerly incarcerated firefighters, an Indigenous scholar, fire artists, neighbors, a witch-therapist, a fire play massage fetishist, and a fire tassel twirling burlesque queen. Partially narrated by Boulder Creek’s mythical white peacock Albert and culminating in a ceremonial Wedding to Fire on a riverbank in the redwoods, Playing with Fire becomes both a love letter to queer resilience and an urgent, creative call-to-action as the climate crisis worsens.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Beth Stephens is a renowned art professor at UC Davis, artist, and filmmaker. Annie Sprinkle is a trailblazing sex-positive feminist and performance artist. Together, they pioneered “sexecology,” a fusion of sexual pedagogy and environmental activism. They are partners and activists who have shaped a queer, pleasure-based environmental movement through their collaborative work creating art, hosting eco-weddings, making films, leading workshops, and writing books. They have produced several publications and films. They are Guggenheim Fellows and Eureka Fellows. Exhibitions include the Venice Biennale and documents 14 and multiple venues around the world.
