The Board of Burnt Oranges, Inc. (BOI) hopes you’re all hanging in there, distancing but interacting in meaningful ways. We’re thinking about you! We know a lot of you are creating and sharing art to help get through this bizarre part of our history. Since part of the mission of BOI is to cultivate interactive art and one of our goals is to provide interactive artists an opportunity to express themselves, we came up with a mini-grants program to implement while we’re awaiting the abatement of this pandemic. This will keep our artistic appetites whetted and give us something to do until in-person meet-ups begin again.
Spark the Art is a microgrant program designed for small funding grants ($20) with a rapid turn-around (one month). Here’s how it works:
FUNDING:
We’re asking our Burner community (and anyone else who wants to participate – think family, friends, employers) to make a small donation of $5 (more is even better!) to the microgrant fund
THE GRANT:
Anyone can apply for a $20 grant from this fund to help them create art that can be shared. This could be visual art, sculpture, music, dance (with a video to share), performance art locally…..use your imagination! The grants will come in the form of a $20 Amazon gift card delivered via email or SMS.
TO APPLY:
To apply, the program is currently closed.
You don’t have to be a member of the Burn community. Invite your artistic family members and friends to apply, too (and ask them if they’d like to donate $5 or more towards Spark the Art).
We’re asking for a one-month deadline for the completion of your art.
We want to be able to showcase the art digitally from this program at AfterBurn and possibly on our website or Facebook page, so please submit a digital image/recording of your art to art@burntoranges.org. We’d also like to display your physical art in our Art Gallery at AfterBurn, if it is available.
Great news! The BOI Directors have all made personal donations to jumpstart Spark the Art and BOI has matched the first $100! So, get your applications in; it is a first come, first serve basis for the microgrants and there is already more than $250 in funds awaiting you!
Let’s continue to grow and share our creativity and passion, even while we’re all keeping our distance from each other. We will burn again together soon. Until then, let’s Spark the Art!
Love,
The Board of Directors
Burnt Oranges, Inc.
P.S. Did you know that if you submit your Amazon orders by signing in through the Amazon Smile website, Burnt Oranges, Inc. can receive a small donation from Amazon? It doesn’t cost you anything extra and it helps support your local artists! Try it out today: Amazon Smile
Please note that Burnt Oranges, Inc. does not respond on Facebook to questions or comments, but we ARE interested in your input, questions, and concerns. Please contact us using our monitored email address board@burntoranges.org and we will get back to you soon. Thank you.
Hello Florida Burners, the Burnt Oranges board hopes your new year is off to a great start! We anticipate some of you are busy getting ready for Love Burn, so we’ll cut to the chase: along with beginning to plan AfterBurn 2020, we need new board members! Read on for details…
We have board members we’d like to promote to participant AND we’d like to expand from a five-person board to a seven-person board. Although this is an unpaid volunteer position, we are pretending like it’s a job and want to make sure whoever joins is a good personality fit with the remaining board and shares our current short- and long-term goals. Here’s what we’re looking for:
Progressive leadership experience would be great! We’re community members and participants just like the rest of our burn community. But we have the extra responsibility of having to make critical decisions. You should be able to do so while also working with your fellow community members to lead the charge. Please be good at leaving your ego at home.
While the Burnt Oranges mission doesn’t actually mention AfterBurn, we have come to recognize that it is currently our one primary time and place to gather the community. We feel that we need to work with our event committee to make sure the framework is in place for future community members to run future events before we can seriously move into other activities. A larger board may allow us to work on AfterBurn and other fundraising or outreach activities, but AfterBurn is the priority for now.
That does not mean you’ll need to be on every single planning call – we’re planning to have a liaison or two handle that and report back to us – but you will need to help out with AfterBurn. Ideally you’re able to take time off from your work and life to help with build (Wednesday & Thursday pre-event assuming we return to Camp La Llanada) and/or strike (Monday post-event). You will also be working during the event as a Board of Director on Call. The number of attending board members will determine how long this shift is – we worked 12 hour shifts at AfterBurn 2019 including overnight shifts. If your radio will wake you up, you can actually nap during your shift! Basically, if the event leads need to escalate an issue – typically rejections or 911 calls – they’re going to call you. We also want to set a good example, so plan to work in a normal 4 hour (at least) volunteer shift during AfterBurn.
If you have skills with bookkeeping (we use Xero), developing meeting agendas and note-taking, nonprofit fundraising, or anything else you think may be relevant, we’re especially interested! We currently utilize a CPA for our actual financial filings, but one lucky board member will work directly with Morgan to eventually take over treasurer responsibilities.
We do also have monthly board meetings. These can be as brief as 30 minutes, but some times they can go for three hours. They are typically weekday evenings. If you can’t make one or have to miss part due to life, we understand, but it can’t become a regular occurrence.
If you are selected to join, we have tentatively planned our annual in-person board meeting for February 29 at Catpult in Lakeland. Unless you or someone you love is a leap year baby, it’s an extra day that we hope is free. We are also expecting to begin AfterBurn 2020 planning the following week and would like all board members to plan to attend the kick off meeting. Our 2019 event committee has indicated a desire to return for 2020 and they’ll be doing the event planning, that’s why we don’t all have to be on every single AfterBurn meeting.
You need to be a team player! We’re aiming for a seven person board and a roughly equal sized event committee, plus we have even more team leads at AfterBurn and an entire community of volunteers. If you don’t play nice with others, please contact the DPW/DOGS team for volunteer opportunities.
Now that you know what we want from you, here’s what you get from the position:
An all expenses paid reasonably priced lunch during our in-person board meeting!
Dinner at a board members’ home in Lakeland after our in-person board meeting!
The ability to put “board member of a nonprofit” on your resume!
Use of a radio for part of AfterBurn!
Financial assistance to attend the South East Round Table (SERT), most likely in April and pretty darned close to home!
Tons of new friends!
Your very own @burntoranges.org email address!
Coverage on our liability insurance plan!
Lots of Slack notifications!
If this is as exciting sounding to you as it is to us, here’s what you need to do:
When #1 is done, send your letter of intent to board@burntoranges.org. For inspiration, consider including a description of yourself, what you think you bring to the organization, and what you’re looking to get from this experience.
Do your best to keep February 29 clear and begin thinking about how you’ll get to Lakeland for a long day of fun if you’re selected.
Steps #1 & #2 need to be completed by February 14. After this date, you are still encouraged to apply, but you will be considered for the next round of “hirings” at a future date. The current board will sort out any obvious “No” votes (sorry, if you have a lifetime event ban we can’t really have you on the board) and conduct interviews – ideally in person as a group, but we have creative ideas if that won’t work – prior to our February 29 in-person board meeting.
Thank you for all of your great submissions for the new Community Event Committee! We removed a few duplicate entries, now it’s time to vote! The top 11 vote recipients will form the new committee. If you would like to have your name displayed differently, please email us with the name displayed and what name should be displayed. If you were nominated and are unable to serve the community, please email us.
NOTE: Nominees who are unable to serve at this time are indicated by a disabled checkbox, a line through their name, and zero votes on the result page. So far, both removed nominees did receive enough votes to place them in the top 11 and, along with everyone who voted for them, we appreciate everything they have done and are able to do for the community ❤️
As promised in our announcement post, this page will provide answers to your questions.
Updated June 21, 2019
Can Burnt Oranges board members be nominated to the event committee?
As board members will already be serving the event committee and art grant committee in a variety of ways and will be required to serve as Board of Director on Call (BoDoC) during the event, board members who are nominated will have their nominations removed from voting.
Why can someone nominate someone else?
“The hero can go forth of his own volition to accomplish the adventure … or he may be carried or sent abroad by some benign or malignant agent … The adventure may begin as a mere blunder… or still again, one may be only casually strolling when some passing phenomenon catches the wandering eye and lures one away from the frequented paths of man.”
Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces
Some times we all need a little encouragement. If a community member thinks you have the ability to help 10 other people run this event, we encourage you to take it as a compliment.
But shouldn’t I be able to know who nominated me?
We encourage the elected event committee to work with the Burnt Oranges board to refine the event committee – including nomination procedures – for future events.
What if I’m nominated, but can’t serve?
If you’ve been nominated (check here) and know you can’t serve, please let us know at board@burntoranges.org. We encourage you to do so as soon as possible, if you’re elected to the committee then have to step down, you may disappoint those who voted for you.
Unfortunately not. Community members are already working on their projects for TTITD and we need to give them, and everyone else, enough time to plan. Remember: fewer people have done more in less time with less support the last two years, you can do this.
When and where can I register my theme camp?
Excellent question and we’re excited to hear you’re excited about bringing your theme camp! The Burnt Oranges board will be working with the upcoming event committee to determine how they would like to collect this information and we anticipate they will announce additional information as soon as possible.
When is the event?
Historically, Afterburn has been Veteran’s Day weekend, which would be the weekend of November 9 and 10. If the new event committee wants to stick to this date, cool! If they’re concerned about the multiple conflicting events that weekend and want to change the dates, neat! If they want to move it to the second Tuesday of next week or spring or a day ending in Y, rad! The point is, we don’t really know when the event will be because it’s up to the event committee.
What if I want to join the committee but don’t want to lead it?
In the wake of Hurricane Irma, Afterburn: Restoration was gifted to the Florida burner community in an effort to assemble and strengthen our community after tumultuous times – both within our community and meteorologically.
In between AB17 and AB18, a few of the community’s artists participated in the Florida Arts Road Road show and installed their art in front of 35,000 participants – and thrived. Many thanks to the Palm Beach Burner Collective for your participation, leadership, and sense of community. We see you.
The entire year of 2018 was spent dedicated to safety training by consulting with leaders at the highest level of BMORG and Black Rock Rangers and FAST. In addition, past and current leaders taught a re-formed CATS team the art of burning brightly. Anyone who saw Shelter From the Tempest or the Hippocampus burn saw the art executed flawlessly – and safely.
With a “blank slate” in mind, the community brought beautiful art and co-created a thriving enclave on the hills of Sand Lake at Afterburn: Tabula Rasa.
For the past two years we’ve seen participation increase; last year’s Department Leads brought dedication to the Tabula Rasa in new ways. Rangers created by far the largest theme camp at the event and had nearly 50% of the event’s participants stop by for an event safety training. Thankfully there were no incidents to debrief, no trips to an emergency room, and 218 ticketed participants went home knowing they left their mark on the canvas.
A restoration. A blank slate. The next step for Central Florida will be a rebuilding. We spent countless hours listening to those who’ve been hurt in the past, and offered apologies, an ear to listen, and now an opportunity to make a difference.
In all of our conversations and experiences elsewhere in the burn world, we’ve found one thing to be of the utmost importance, that yields the biggest amount of personal transformation, community building and creativity: a true spirit of participation.
There can be no argument; an event that’s run by the community offers the pinnacle of achievement. Community-run events are more vibrant, more expressive, more inclusionary and offer what only a regional burning man event can – the opportunity to come together and say, “We Did This.”
For those who have served the community at past events, we salute you.
For those who wish to say “I Ran AfterBurn,” come this way.
This year, the 2019 central Florida regional burn will be 99% community run.
The 1% is the part where the current volunteer board members will be responsible for handling financials (art grants, paying vendors, reviewing budget proposals, ticketing, etc) and legal concerns (contracts, insurance, security, etc), and the community will run, administer and learn how to bask in the fulfillment that comes from running YOUR OWN EVENT.
What’s Next?
The Board of Directors has unanimously voted, and we’re going to help the community form an event committee!
11 members will be voted onto the committee by you, the community.
Previous event and team leads are encouraged to participate.
The Newcomer is encouraged to participate.
The “great idea” person is encouraged to participate and carry out those amazing ideas!!!
The “naysayer” is encouraged to participate; committees LOVE debate!!!
Event committee members are asked to dedicate their time:
Roughly an hour a week between now and October
Roughly two hours a week in the month leading up to the event
Roughly four days for onsite, pre-event prep, teardown, and the actual, physical, immediacy of doing the thing
However long it takes you to finish any post-event work (inventory, submitting receipts, reporting, etc)
One of your first decisions will be picking event dates! We have options, including YOUR option, but yes, you decide.
The nomination process begins now and closes in one week. Community members will vote to determine which nominees will represent you in the committee starting in one week, and continuing through 7/1/2019.
We’ll announce the top 11 vote recipients and plan a public Zoom conference call to kick off the event planning process directly thereafter with your newly elected representatives.
Nominate yourself or someone you see as representative of your community.
Your first tasks may be daunting, but will be equally rewarding. Your challenges may seem difficult but with the support of 10 other committee members, department leads and returning veterans and board members, ultimately achievable. And you’ll learn something about yourself you might not have known: you could have been doing this all along but had been told “NO” your entire life. Not anymore. We’re here to say yes. Won’t you join us?
Who Runs Meetings?
There will always be at least one board member present – again to help with financial/legal concerns – but otherwise meetings are scheduled and run by the community. For transparency, we do require that meetings be held through Zoom which we will set up and record.
Who Is In Charge?
For legal liability, the events committee is a voting, advisory panel represented by the community who attends the event. The committee shall form no legal entity, nor have any liability beyond the personal action of any member. The committee shall elect two co-chairs who will take roll, and present written recommendations to the Burnt Oranges Board of Directors.
If it’s sane and safe, we move forward together. If it’s crazy and ludicrous and just might work, we move forward together. If it’s legal, we move forward together. If it’s affordable, we move forward together. If we’re going to take a bath on it due to poor ticket sales, it gets postponed or cancelled prior to vendor and property deposits being paid.
Department leads (CATS, Rangers, Medics, etc) will report to the Community Event Committee. The Community Event Committee will have the ability, at their discretion, to appoint, steal, beg, borrow, or otherwise appoint, vote or select “Event Leads,” or whatever titles they desire for those who will be doing the majority of the event’s work.
You’re encouraged to utilize existing department leads, or create your own. We have plenty of ideas to share with you, and encourage you to come up with your own. Board Members will be “On Call” during the event to deal with any legal, financial, or other ethical manners as required by our sanctioned status and agreement with BMORG. The “Event Producer” shall be listed as a board member (TBD) for insurance, legal, and financial reasons.
But we will not be meddling in the basics of how you want your event to run, nor responsible for its overall operations. We’re literally handing your designated “Property Quartermaster” the keys to all of it.
The Burnt Oranges board will also provide guidance – and, if necessary, a veto of any any activities the Community Event Committee plans that may jeopardize the event, community, or organization. It’s a true partnership; we’re providing the umbrella of liability and fiscal sponsorship; you’re providing the content, team, and feels.
There’s Not Enough Time!
The operational logistics for the past two Afterburn events were handled in far less time by far fewer people, but we do understand the concerns you may have. That’s why we’re available to provide guidance now, and in the future when necessary. Remember, there were 220 people at the event last year, all of our tools are already on site, and we have great team leads to help you along the way!
What About Art Grants?
Standby for a separate post about art grants very soon. Don’t wait for the post to start planning your projects though!
What If The Community Doesn’t Want To Run A Burn?
While all members of the Burnt Oranges board will be sad there isn’t a burn, the burn isn’t ours alone and we’ll respect the decisions made by the community. If the committee decides not to have an event, or to postpone it until 2020, we’ll support it, but miss it as much as you do. We’re already planning a decompression, so if you need some post-TTITD community there will be opportunities!
What’s Burnt Oranges Doing?
Actively pursuing our mission to support participatory art and community throughout Florida! With the burn being returned to the community for management, we now have the bandwidth to focus on that mission, including the aforementioned decompression, casual local burner social events, and additional art-grant-funding events (aka: fundraisers).
WTF?!
If you have additional questions regarding this evolution, please email us at board@burntoranges.org. We will compile questions and publish an FAQ.
For those of you who were waiting until the day of the event to buy tickets only to see tickets are no longer on sale, we’re helping you out! Tickets are now available to purchase until Sunday November 11 at noon.
For anyone reading this who decides to go through the Brown Paper Ticket listing with a magnifying glass, you may notice that the event dates appear as though the event is an hour long on Sunday. Fear not, the actual event hours have not changed (read the event description on Brown Paper Tickets), we just had to do that to allow beyond-last-minute ticket sales.
I’m baaaack! This is your friendly AfterBurn spokesperson, Bob. I was recently called out of my well-deserved Florida shuffleboard retirement when a handful of AfterBurners said, “WTF happened to Bob?”
For the next few weeks, I will do my best to organize and share the news and information you need to pARTicipate at AfterBurn: Tabula Rasa. I’ll post everything on the Burnt Oranges Blog, so if you miss an issue, you can find it in one place. And I’ll send it via email as well.
This is a two-way street — I need to hear from you as well! Please email me at bob@burntoranges.org if you have questions about the event or want to tell everybody about the super-exciting things you are bringing this year.
How ’bout that?
Bob
WHO’S PUTTING ON AFTERBURN: TABULA RASA?
AfterBurn is put on by a group of volunteers organized into teams. Here is a list of the departments, so you can see what it takes to put on this event:
Art Department & Art Grant Committee (Link Coming)
We know of one camp that attempted to register early on, but was not successful. We don’t know the reason, but we do know the form is definitely working.If you registered your camp early on and you are not on this list please register again. You will get an automated notice if you complete the registration successfully.
Thank you for your community participation!
WOODCHUCK WEEKEND IS MIND-BLOWINGLY AWESOME
…however, it needs you to make it that way.
On November 3 and 4, one week before AfterBurn, a special group of individuals gather on the property to get it ready. What makes them special? They get an extra weekend with their Burner friends, in exchange for a couple of days of hard work. You can be one of those special people! There’s something for everyone to do, depending on ability and willingness. Extra points if you have saws, chainsaws, or mowers. You can also come and feed the volunteers. Check out the Sign-Up page here:
The Indaba is your place, where you can start a discussion, share world-changing ideas, make music, and meet new friends. If you are a welcoming person, we can use your help! Please consider signing up as an Indaba Host.
Do you want to give a workshop or a speech? Book your time in the Indaba now by emailing stig@fonslet.com. If you have an idea while you are at AfterBurn, we’ll promote it on the whiteboard when you arrive.
At the Indaba, you can attend an activity, put on an activity, promote your theme camp activity, or find out about theme camp activities. In other words, it’s all about participation. Think of it as a physical What-Where-When.
Indaba Schedule so far…
Friday, 7 pm: Community potluck — bring a dish to share, and your own plates and utensils
Saturday, 11 pm: The First Annual Inaugural Joke-Telling Hour
Sunday, noon: Storytelling circle — bring your best Burner stories
If you have an idea for the schedule, let us know! We’ll make it happen!
NEW FOR AFTERBURN: THE ART DEPARTMENT
If you are building an art piece before the burn starts, please find Buttercup or Kevin Bean. We are adding a new part of infrastructure called the Art Department. If you’re feeling stuck or need a hand during your project, find them for support!
This year during the Florida Arts Road show, burning man artist Tyson Ayers decided to donate a Sound Cave to our community.
It’s built with 4 baby grand piano sound boards and a grand piano that you can play. You can read more about his project here: http://www.soundcave.org/experience.php
We need to move it out of The Dead Lizard, where it’s been since March and take it to Bartow for the community to enjoy at Afterburn 2018: Tabula Rasa.
And we need help. While this event says it’s starting today, that’s just the first time we could attempt it. We’re looking for at least 4 people to confirm a date they’re available, and then we’ll schedule it. If we can then get 4-5 people to help during work weekend to assemble it, then we’ll have one of the coolest art pieces to enjoy. Work weekend signups are available on SignUP Genius. If you’d like to be part of an art team, leave your availability here and we’ll update the “event” as soon as we have 4 helpers. Thanks in advance! While this is shown as evening times, if you’re available daytimes, drop that in the responses too.
If you’ve got a box truck, or flatbed trailer, drop a line about that too.
Burnt Oranges is devoted to cultivating interactive art through artist funding and advocacy, by creating supportive venues for interactive artists and performers, and through public education of interactive art.
For this year’s AfterBurn: Tabula Rasa event, the organization donated $5000 toward art, effigies, temples, and related expenses. We’re trying to raise some additional funds to ensure that the effigies being built have the materials they need, and we can’t do it without your help.
Josh Boyer is building a temple, and James Oleson is bringing a wire-framed project that’s covered in paraffin-dipped muslin fabric that will burn like a candle. We’re also burning last year’s “Shelter From the Tempest” pirate ship that Matthew George and the Palm Beach Burner Collective built.
While we’d like to have ticket costs cover these expenses, the budget for this year’s event is going toward infrastructure only. From Porto’s to Radios, Insurance to Land Rent, it’s all 100% tied up in making sure the event can happen.
Each year at Burning Man, particpants donate thousands toward the temple build teams, individual art projects, and help make them happen. So that we can continue to help these artists make their dreams a reality, we’re asking for your help. We promised artists that we’d help them with Crowdfunding Campaigns if they needed it. The Temples and Effigies need it.
We’ve donated the $5000 in seed money to art, with $2400 going directly to the builds, $2000 to art grants, and $500 budgeted toward additional fuel, sand to keep the grass from burning, and fire safety equipment. Read more about that in our previous post.
Your donations go directly to art, and not to funding anything else in the organization. If you’re an art supporter and would like to donate, every donation helps. We’d suggest a $5 minimum, but please give what you can afford.
