An Unchaste Evening for Charity

By Justin Sondak in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 10, 2006 4:20PM

Convincing your significant other to spend an evening with you and a room full of sex workers might be tough. Did you mention it's for a good cause? Then head over to Andersonville where you both can admire the talents of adult film stars, strippers, internet models and prostitutes, for your cultural enrichment.

Arriving in Chicago as part of a nationwide tour, The Sex Workers Art Show is art and performance at turns stimulating and thought-provoking. The performers want you to know that they’re multi-dimensional human beings, that they weren’t driven to their work by desperation, and that their professions may entail as many tradeoffs and complications as your own. Likewise, they won’t shy away from revealing the darker side of their jobs. Annie Oakley (pictured, right) started the show a decade ago as an underground curiosity that's since exploded into a widely-acclaimed cabaret with burlesque, spoken word, and music in a gallery setting. This evening of educational, at times mind-blowing entertainment benefits the Young Women’s Empowerment Project, a non-profit group providing counseling and a respectful space for girls and young women affected by the sex trade.

The Sex Workers Art Show is Saturday night at Las Manos Gallery, 5220 N Clark St. Doors open at 8pm, show starts at 9. Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door, a great deal compared to serving as some exotic dancer’s ATM.