Laura Henkel

Education and background

Born in Miami, Florida, Henkel spent her formative years in Irving, Texas. She later attended John F. Kennedy University where she earned her B.A., Liberal Arts. She continued her studies at the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality, San Francisco, and was awarded a Doctorate in Human Sexuality and a PhD in Erotology.

Erotic Heritage Museum

After demonstrating expertise in the appraisal and sourcing of vintage erotic items, Henkel was asked to open and curate the nonprofit Erotic Heritage Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada. The project initially became her Ph.D dissertation and later involved the professional curation and management of a 17,000 square-foot arts and history exhibition area and an additional 7,000 square-feet of revolving art installations. She was periodically sent by museum management to parts of Europe and Asia to collect, appraise, and transport items for official EHM exhibits.

The facility received international recognition, named one of the World's 12 Sexiest Museums in 2010. Under Henkel's direction, the museum was also host to a variety of art-related functions, including an uncensored Shakespearean presentation and a variety of performance art shows.

Sin City Gallery

Laura Henkel's "Sin City Gallery" began as Laura Henkel Fine Arts, a small contemporary gallery which continued Henkel's exploration of human sexuality through the arts. The space would later rebrand as Sin City Gallery, becoming an internationally recognized venue with exhibits and installations across a variety of mediums by artists including Japanese artist Hajime Sorayama, New Zealand multi-media artist JK Russ, American fine art photographers Bunny Yeager, Steve Diet Goedde, and Justice Howard, among others.

Sin City Gallery is listed as one of the 25 Best Art Galleries in America and was awarded "Best Gallery in Nevada" from the nationally considered American Art Awards in 2013.

Other curation

As arts curator and appraiser, Laura Henkel has independently organized and managed a number of educational lectures, exhibits, and art installations, including the 2013 cross-cultural US opening of South Korean sculptor Wook Jang Cheung's "Long Journey Home," which she coordinated through Chinese liaison Shunmei Jin at The Shops at Crystals, CityCenter, MGM, Las Vegas.

Henkel's educational lectures includes the 2014 "Queerly Provocative" panel, a discussion of LGBTQ community issues as they relate to the world of art and lectures for the 2011 highly controversial exhibition, “Multiples: The Artwork of John Wayne Gacy," with notable criminologist Dr. Jack Levin and respected art therapy specialist Dr. Dave Gussak. Henkel also contributes curatorial expertise to music and art festivals.

ArtCulture PR

Curating over 400+ installations and exhibitions and serving in various leadership roles for arts and cultural organizations, Henkel created ArtCulture PR to assist artists, creatives and cultural organizations to manage their portfolios, strengthen brand identity and curate art. She is contributing writer to arts and cultural publications.

12 Inches of Sin

In 2010, Laura Henkel began the "12 Inches of Sin" annual juried erotic arts show and competition as an effort to promote her Sin City Gallery. With its call for entries judged by a panel of international experts of the field, the show quickly gathered a worldwide following and brought artists from all over the globe into the Las Vegas Arts District, beginning with submissions of art from 5 countries in its first year and growing to 23 countries in its fifth year.

All work submitted must follow a strict rule of being no larger than 12 inches in any direction, a restriction Henkel initially designed to “to get as much art into the space as possible.” The rule creates tension, causing an additional challenge to the creator. Works by artists new and established around the world are selected for being "sophisticated, intelligent, witty and provocative."

A panel of international judges determine the overall narrative of each exhibition. Judges are respected experts in the field of art, academia and publishing. Previous judges have included former Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman; co-founder of Burning Man, Will Roger Peterson; Christine Fey, cultural director of Reno, Nevada; co-founder of Seattle Erotic Art Festival, Allena Gabosch; curator Catherine Johnson-Roehr of The Kinsey Institute; director SRS Sharp of the Tom of Finland Foundation; multimedia artist Madison Young; and Henry S. Rosenthal, film producer and documentarian of Jeff Koons and Marilyn Manson.

12 Inches of Sin celebrates the art exhibition with an annual immersive art experience. Artists and patrons gather from all over the world to Las Vegas, and a portion of proceeds from the event are donated to the charitable organization The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

In 2015, Henkel folded the success of the "12 Inches" venture into a fully funded Kickstarter campaign, raising funds for the publication of a coffee table book featuring various works of the show in a four-volume set entitled "12 Inches of Sin: So Much Art You Can Barely Fit It All In". Each year a new book is created with the Best in Show winner on the cover.

Eric Minh Swenson, a Los Angeles-based filmmaker and documentarian, filmed a brief documentary on 2016's "12 Inches of Sin V" which featured the exhibition's "opportunity to secure works of art from prestigious and emerging artists that embody both the cutting edge of today’s contemporary art world and the vast breadth of artistic expression."