So, picking up where I left off last week talking with the wonderful Dr. Victoria Hartmann, PH.D. Director of the Erotic Heritage Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada.

You mentioned Puppetry Of The Penis coming in for a residency. When does that start and how are you approaching this kind of a live-act long term commitment?

The Puppetry of the Penis show began on the 28th of April. They are signed with us for 5 years and we hope our guests will love them as much as we do. Thus far they have filled the new Jewel Box exhibit space we built for them every night, and the screams of laughter coming from that part of the Museum keep the energy high in the evenings, plus it fills the Museum with people who may have not otherwise found us. It’s a win/win for both of our sex positive efforts.

Following from the above, how many permanent exhibits are in the EHM. How many are ever changing and typically how long do you keep a piece for…and what determines its duration?

At any one time we run six to eight permanent exhibits. Our “Celebrity Sex Scandals” room, “History of the Peep Show” exhibit, “Paris Theater” exhibit-which is a mock-up of the 1970’s adult theaters named after one of the few remaining original theaters in the country, the Paris Theater in Portland, Oregon- “The Wall of Shame” exhibit which exposes the hypocrisy in the American political system around sexuality, and a few others. With regard to the changing exhibits, some are a commentary of current events, some have a significant historical value or artifacts dating back thousands of years, others because it’s an exhibit that hasn’t ever been seen at any other Sex Museum. We are currently working on a major, quite large exhibit about cycling and sexuality, a new exhibit where we go into detail about how television has shaped sexual behavior in the US, starting with the 70’s film “Videodrome,” and an immersive BDSM exhibit where the viewer literally, physically, enters a “subspace.” We keep rotating exhibits for up to 6 months at a time, so there is always something new at the EHM!

Can you speak about the artwork from The German Art exhibit? I was most taken with that one.

The German Art exhibit is a controversial one, as it features some of the artwork created during the Weimar Republic – the “sin” days in Berlin between 1919 – 1933, and the burning of said artwork by the Nazi’s on order from Hitler when he sent Joseph Goebbels in to “clean up Berlin” after he became chancellor of Germany. The Hirschfeld Institute, the world’s first sex research center, was on the top of the Nazi’s list for destruction, and many of the photos seen of the book burnings in Germany at that time were items from the Hirschfeld Institute. Priceless research and artwork were lost, and we have some of the items that were left behind represented in this exhibit. If governments can control people’s sexuality, they can control the people, and this was certainly true of Germany from 1933-1945.

Beyond PoP, what else is coming-up and tell us how people can contact you if they want to present something at the museum.

We love hearing from new artists! We have a special gallery set aside to feature new artists, called the “Artist of the Month” Gallery. Beyond new artists, we are always looking to acquire unique and powerful collections and artifacts, and love working with collectors to feature their pieces. We can be contacted 7 days a week in the city that never sleeps at 702.794.4000. Viva Las Vegas!!

You can find more information on the Erotic Heritage Museum website at www.EroticMuseumVegas.com.