SPARK THE ART

Hello out there, all you creative folks,

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.

TO DONATE:

You can quickly and easily send your donation through our BOI Facebook fundraiser: https://www.facebook.com/donate/579853895981688/

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.

Calling Future Burnt Oranges Board Members

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:

  1. Fill out our board member intake form.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.

We look forward to seeing your applications!

Blurb of Bob Vol 2. No. 1 – 2018

 

===

Hey, Guys!

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)

CATS Fire and Event Safety

DPW Dogs (Department of Public Works infrastructure)

Earth Guardians (Leave No Trace)

Indaba (includes Info Booth functions) (Link Coming – contact bob@burntorange.org)

Medics

Parking (Link Coming – contact bob@burntoranges.org)

Placement (Link Coming – contact bob@burntoranges.org)

Rangers

Sanctuary (Link Coming – contact sanctuary@burntoranges.org)

Volunteer Coordination (Link Coming – contact bob@burntoranges.org)

Welcome Home Crew

Theme Camps – Contact Sean@burntoranges.org

GOT TICKETS?

If you don’t have your ticket yet, please jump over to Brown Paper Tickets now. The earlier you purchase a ticket, the easier it is for the organizers (that list above) to plan infrastructure and activities. Here’s the link: https://m.bpt.me/event/3631213?fbclid=IwAR1iz6VznefzVPfyIjv8her-Ybq_EaCwEv0iJQOLtHawI142ZeV2gS1JZDM

THEME CAMP REGISTRATION IS STILL OPEN

From Sean, our Theme Camp Department Lead:

Theme Camp registration is open and we are keeping registration open as long as we can before the event.

Please register at :

https://burntoranges.org/events/participate/camps/theme-camp-registration/

Here is the list of great theme camp entries we have  received as of 6 pm on 10/18 (ordered by date of registration) :

Camp Middle School Dance

A**holes Anonymous (camping in association with Those A**holes)

Shivered Timbers

Flying Carpet Camp

We’re Bananas

Burgers Without Orders

Those A**holes/A**holes Anonoymous

Camp Java (in Indaba Willage)

Camp Psychonaut

Indaba Willage

The Magic Touch

The Happy Spot (in Indaba Willage)

Nomad’s Land

Peter’s Photo-Wall and Foto-Tent

If you have any questions about theme camp registration please contact Sean at

sean.atbirth@burntoranges.org

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:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0d4ea8ac29a7ff2-woodchuck?fbclid=IwAR2luaZ5-srDIdjdEs3nj8Y85fMNbiTrLOfTtGlK5h0pyEFRJKog88_8kNg

THE INDABA: IT’S NOT JUST A TENT

From the Indaba team:

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! 

MOVING THE SOUND CAVE

 

 

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/events/181027299440951/?active_tab=about

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.

 

AfterBurn: Tabula Rasa Temple & Effigy Crowdfunding Campaign

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.

The event is funding two effigy projects. You can see and learn more about them on the web site at: https://burntoranges.org/currently-registered-art-projects-and-art-honoraria/

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.


(Donate to Effigies and Temples)

An Open Call For Supporters, Contributors, Facilitators, and Board Members

Founded in 2008, Burnt Oranges Inc. received 501(c)3 Charitable Organization and Florida Non-Profit Corporation status in 2010. Operated by a Working Board of Directors, the organization has no employees.

If you’re unfamiliar with this type of oversight, check this article about what an AVO is: https://blueavocado.org/board-of-directors/boards-of-all-volunteer-organizations/ From the article:

Two responsibilities in particular are uniquely important in AVOS: recruiting new leaders, and turning over responsibilities to them. Sometimes long-time leaders and volunteers view the organization as “their baby” and are sharply critical and undermining of anyone whose approach is different. Letting go is difficult for them. They may find fault with new volunteers, or refuse to allow newcomers to take on real responsibility. Board members who truly believe in the organization’s work will want to ensure that they encourage new leaders (even if they seem to be doing it all wrong at first) and let the organization grow into its own future. (This may mean allowing current activities to die out and new activities to take their place.)

For the organization to move forward, it must remain dedicated to its mission and goals:

OUR MISSION

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.

OUR HISTORY

It’s important to post here the items from the original documentation submitted to the IRS in Form 1023 ATTACHMENTS – original submittal which show how the organization would accomplish this mission, and which granted Burnt Oranges, Inc. 501(c)3 exemption status:

PUBLIC ART EXHIBITIONS: The main activity of Burnt Oranges Inc. will be to encourage, promote, and support the production of community-based interactive art and the display of that art to the public. To accomplish this, Burnt Oranges will work to identify appropriate sites and venues for the public presentation and display of interactive artwork. Burnt Oranges will especially focus on venues and exhibition opportunities that emphasize the civic and social functions of these art works.

Burnt Oranges Inc. plans to organize and conduct public exhibitions of the community-based, interactive art it promotes, at a variety of different sites and venues.

A PERMANENT PUBLIC ART EXHIBITION. Burnt Oranges plans to establish a permanent, year-round, ongoing public exhibition of community-based interactive art. The location of this will be in the Central Florida area, and will be Burnt Oranges’ main center and facility for the development, display, and celebration of the innovative, community-based, interactive art that it seeks to encourage.

TRAVELING ART EXHIBITIONS. Burnt Oranges plans to organize a traveling exhibition of community-based, interactive art that can be taken out “on the road” and displayed at dozens of other major citiesthrough the country.

DISPLAYS AT OTHER PUBLIC EVENTS. Finally, Burnt Oranges also plans to display the community-based, interactive art that it seeks to encourage, at a variety of art festivals and other public events that are compatible with this form of innovative art. These will include artistic festivals such as the Burning Man gathering, which is an annual festival of innovative art and culture that takes place in a remote desert area of Nevada.

Beyond the creation of these venues, Burnt Oranges also funds the creation of art through grants. If you’d like to participate in the granting process, please email board@burntoranges.org to join a committee. Here’s how this was originally laid out:

GRANTS TO SUPPORT COMMUNITY-BASED, INTERACTIVE ART: In order to promote the development of community-based, interactive art which can be part of its public art exhibitions, Burnt Oranges plans to provide financial support for artists who will work to produce innovative, creative examples of interactive, community-based art. Burnt Oranges intends to support only art projects that otherwise could not be produced through the support of the existing commercial and institutional mainstream art community.

There is a great need for the work of Burnt Oranges because, unfortunately, there are currently no dedicated sources of arts funding that specifically support and facilitate community-based, interactive art, despite a 50 year history of such work going back to Allan Karprow’s “Happenings” of the late 1950sand early 1960s.

Third, Burnt Oranges seeks to aid a collective or artists in the community by supporting these efforts. If you’re interested in contribution to this capability, please email board@burntoranges.org. Here’s the original intent:

DEVELOPMENT OF AN ARTISTIC COMMUNITY PRODUCING INTERACTIVE ART: In addition to promoting and supporting the production and public exhibition of innovative examples of community- based, interactive art, Burnt Oranges will help the artists who produce it by developing a networked community of artists that can collaborate and work together to produce interactive art. This networked community will provide the artists with contacts that can supply them with inspiration, collaboration, material resources, technical assistance, volunteer services, and financial aid.

Many artists have not been able to develop the collaborative strategies and techniques needed to produce the unusual, innovative interactive art that Burnt Oranges wishes to promote. Burnt Oranges will work to create and provide a laboratory for the development for informal, artistic project-driven networks through which collaborative efforts can produce community-based, interactive art.

As part of this work, Burnt Oranges may develop a year-round arts center and artistic residency program. This center will provide a site for artists from all around the world to come and work together in a dynamic laboratory for the creation of collaborative artistic projects, involving many different artists in the shared production of community-based, interactive art. This facility will be part of the interactive- art network that Burnt Oranges intends to help create and support. Accomplished artists will be offered short-term residency programs to help facilitate the collaborative production of these interactive art projects. The art produced, and the process of creating that art, will be displayed to interested members of the public.

Lastly, the development of Educational Outreach Programs is the final pillar of the Organization. If you’re interested in doing outreach on behalf of Burnt Oranges, please email your program ideas, fundraiser ideas, and how you’d like to assemble your project to board@burntoranges.org. Here’s the original intent:

EDUCATIONAL PUBLIC OUTREACH PROGRAMS. Finally, Burnt Oranges intends to educate the general public about the spiritual value and social relevance of community-based, interactive art. For this to happen, the public must have opportunities to see and interact with this unusual art form. Burnt Oranges will utilize every opportunity, including its own public display and exhibition of this art as well as providing funds for art supplies and art programs at public schools and community centers, to educate the public about the larger social and cultural importance of interactive art. As stated above, the ultimate mission of Burnt Oranges is to use public exhibitions focusing on interactive art, to promotea revival of art’s culture-bearing and socially connective functions. As part of this, Burnt Oranges seeks to educate the public about the need to free art from its dependence on the commercial marketplace, and to reintegrate it into public and community settings.

The Above Charter is the Road Map

At no time has the Organization voted to change any of this. While the original intent may have been sidelined in the favor of “producing events” throughout the past ten years, the current direction of the Board of Directors is to support these, intact.

I’m interested in helping lead AfterBurn in the future:

For the community members who are interested in the facilitation, administration and overall production of the Sanctioned, Central Florida Regional Burn, we’d encourage you to submit your intentions to assist with this via a letter mailed to us at our mailing address, or via email: board@burntoranges.org. Those with operational plans, management plans, property ideas, etc are requested to send their agenda, staffing, event budgets, safety plans, and training plans to the BOD for inclusion in the voting process for the next “Event Lead” for 2019. Email board@burntoranges.org to start this process.

I think the Organization should move in a different direction:

It’s difficult to change an existing charter, but not impossible. While we are open to hearing ideas, it’s best if they fit within the above strategy.

If you’d like to add your ideas to the mission and vision, just submit your intentions on how you’d like to help. The current BOD is open to hearing how you’ll be using the 100-1000 hours a year you put into this. And if someone amazing steps up, let’s make them president, and allow them to lead. This isn’t a popularity contest, nor does the office of Board Member come with any perks other than the ability to sweat (because Florida), donate time (because we’re an AVO), and expand your knowledge, capability, and integration with something MUCH larger than our little piece of it in central Florida. If you’ve ever dreamed of changing the world, it begins with the first step: changing your community first.

I want to help with the stated objectives of the Organization.
What do I do?

The first part of the process would be to let us know that your intentions include being able to help implement what’s listed above. Perhaps your background specializes in one of these. Perhaps you’ve got previous non-profit experience and would love to assist. The perfect response would be something you craft yourself, tell the BOD about your relevant experience, and then perhaps how YOU would implement something. Include your methods for volunteer recruitment for the cause, methods of keeping those volunteers accountable to do the things they say they’re going to do, and ultimately how you’ll deal with people accusing you of cheating them out of their party in a cow field instead of the stated objectives above. Feel free to use as much space as necessary. The BOD has the ability to create committees, task forces, and any other type of thing that might move it forward. But we can’t do it by adding additional titles to five people who have maxed out their capabilities just trying to make sure that you can still burn stuff and complain while doing it. Whether you think you’re qualified for a board seat, a committee chair, a contribution in the form of money or guidance, a workshop for artists, community builders, or something completely different, we ask that you draft an email, introduce yourself, and see if being a part of an AVO is for you.

But what about the community?

We’d love to see a community organize itself, and decide how they’d like to interact with the organization. While BOI desires for to create tons of trailheads for engagement; perhaps you’d like to help start one, or facilitate a group discussion on how the community can become more involved.

It’s impossible for an All Volunteer Organization to be any more advanced than the abilities of the volunteers of the community.

In order to achieve what’s listed above, BOI needs dozens, if not hundreds of volunteers who dedicate hundreds, if not thousands of hours to make it happen. Maybe that won’t be possible. Maybe it is. Email board@burntoranges.org and be a part of an AVO.

Donations, the lifeblood of public charities.

501(c)3 organizations depend upon your tax-deductible contributions to make programs happen. Without funding, and the ability to raise funds for these programs there can be no future. If you’d like to contribute a charitable gift, contact board@burntoranges.org for more information, or send your check to:

Burnt Oranges, Inc.
5337 North Socrum Loop Rd. #137
Lakeland, Florida 33809

If you’d like to support the year-round capabilities and operating budget of the organization, consider becoming a Mandarin Supporter.

If you’d like to support the organization through purchases, consider using us as your Amazon Smile Beneficiary. It costs you nothing, and shows up in our account.

Burnt Oranges 2018 Roadmap

Before we look to the future, the Burnt Oranges board would like to thank all of the dedicated event coordinators, team leads, every volunteer, and each participant in the Florida burner community for helping to pull off Afterburn: Restoration. Based on our own experiences and the feedback we’ve received, Afterburn exceeded many expectations and we hope to build on that success.

In reviewing all of the various team lead reports from Afterburn – as well as countless conversations with members of the community each of us have had since – it’s become abundantly clear that this community is in need of two things:

  1. A trained volunteer base that can pull off any burn or community event.
  2. An Afterburn 2018 that builds on Afterburn: Restoration.

While everything went well, giving the appearance that volunteer needs were covered, many of our limited volunteers spent more time working than they were able to spend sleeping or enjoying the event. While we appreciate the passion, we also know it’s unsustainable.

Our events are volunteer-operated. Without adequate volunteers, we cannot have a safe event that continues to evolve into the regional burns we’d all like to see.

Since the stated mission of Burnt Oranges is promoting and funding art, and establishing venues for that art, all current active Burnt Oranges directors met with Afterburn: Restoration event coordinators Heathen and RobL to discuss Preheat 2018.

As a result of this meeting, a unanimous conclusion without dissent has been reached that we do not currently have the team leads and volunteers to successfully pull off an event that continues the momentum of Afterburn in such a short period of time. While we may be able to collectively forego sleep for a couple of months to pull off an event, there is simply not enough time to plan an event, recruit and train volunteers, and implement the feedback we received from Afterburn: Restoration.

This news is as disappointing to you as it is to us. After seeing the amazing energy at Afterburn, there’s nothing more we’d like to see than another event that brings us all together.

Now for the fun stuff intentionally designed to make you feel better after learning we’re skipping Preheat this year!

Volunteer Development

Since volunteers are required to pull off the events our community wants (as well as more to come) and we don’t have enough of them, we’re going to address this problem immediately. Throughout 2018, we will be reaching out to the community to bring back old team leads, find and train new team leads, and help those leads to build out their crews.

Our plan is to facilitate several smaller events throughout the state to put those who already know what they’re doing in direct contact with those interested in building the community as volunteers. Depending on the team we’re helping to build, some of these events may include hands-on training run by department leads, in addition to community meet & greets with hosted, large-scale art projects to participate in. There’s one happening next weekend in Palm Beach, hosted by Heathen and the build crew from “Shelter From The Tempest”. We’d encourage our long-standing community members to come together and host similar “Sparks” of community throughout the state as we collectively aim for combining those efforts into the larger flame of a community-created, 10-principles based event filled with art, burnable structures, and opportunities for participation.

If you’ve never volunteered before because you had no idea what you’d be doing, we’re going to provide ample opportunities to become familiar with your volunteer options.

Our goal is to build teams with layers of redundancy so that we’re never faced with an issue of not enough volunteers when planning events like Preheat and Afterburn.

Art Development

While we did streamline our art grant process significantly, we think it’s safe to assume most people are on the same page in wanting more art at our events.

We plan to expand our art grant program to start MUCH earlier, provide guidance and consultation for those of you considering your first project or one at a larger scale than you’ve previously created, and create opportunities for exposure beyond our regional events.

One aspect of our Art Development program that’s just launched is the debut of the Burnt Oranges Arts & Culture Roadshow at the upcoming Okeechobee Music & Art Festival March 1-4. Burnt Oranges will have a booth engaging festival participants in a participatory art project, discussing our trailheads into the community, and promoting the artists in our midsts.

We’ll be showcasing several art pieces from Afterburn: Restoration including the Shelter From The Tempest Pirate Ship, The Augmented Reality (AR) Sandbox, and the The Human Plasmascope. The event is still a month away, but we’ve already been introduced to half a dozen local large-scale interactive artists who we have invited to join us at future burns.

Community Development

Many people have commented regarding how Afterburn felt like a great return of the Florida burn community. We know that’s why so many of you have been looking forward to there being a Preheat.

If you’re a Central Florida loyalist who goes to one or two events a year, or you travel the state to attend all four events, getting friends together two to four times a year doesn’t seem like enough to us.

Between our own smaller volunteer and art development events we’re currently working on and promoting other events across the state, we hope to make it easier for all of us to see each other face to face more frequently.

We’re also in early discussions regarding how we can better utilize the technology at our disposal to facilitate in-person community building.

Each of us would like to thank you for your understanding and patience while we’ve been working on this announcement. While skipping a Preheat will disappoint some of you, we hope you understand the reasons why and that you’ll join us in our efforts to continue to grow our volunteer base, community, and events.

We’ll be available, responsive, and right there with you to provide resources, funding, and support to grow our collective capability of responsibly growing back to the thriving community we know we’re all meant to be.

Hopefully we got you really excited about volunteering. If we were successful, please take a minute to fill out the form below so we can see who is available for what, and to receive direct communications regarding upcoming events where your skills will be needed.

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Sky Above Me ~ Earth Below Me ~ Fire Within Me: AfterBurn 2017 Burnable Honoraria

Euphoria 2013 Cherokee Farms, GA – Photo: Matt Brooks, Used With Permission

Sky Above Me ~ Earth Below Me ~ Fire Within Me

I attended my first burn in 2013; Euphoria on Cherokee Farms in the nestled foothills of Georgia. As it was my first burn, I did not know what to expect. I went into the experience with no expectations of the experience that I later realized had changed my life. The effigy that year stood atop a hill as beacon. People laughed. They cried. They rested. Hammocks were hung and people slept under the stars. It was burn night. I could feel the energy rising as people formed a circle around the effigy. Men dressed in red and black robes entered the perimeter to light the art on fire that I had connected with on a deep spiritual and emotional level. A DJ began playing an impromptu music set that took control of the flames and made the fire dance. It moved me to tears. It is a moment I will never forget.

 

Euphoria 2013 Cherokee Farms, GA – Photo: Matt Brooks, Used With Permission

 

The AfterBurn: Restoration Burnable Honoraria

It’s our goal to support the building of an effigy and temple if there are those willing to come forward to build them. The hearts, souls, sweat, and tears of the artists will cast an energy on a these pieces of art that will have an impact on hundreds. People will connect with your art in an infinite number of ways. Whether it be by sharing a kiss by the lit effigy or letting go of regret or sadness as the temple blazes into the night sky. You have the power to create an epic moment for someone through a vision of something beautiful and magical that you have been dreaming of. I can only imagine the feeling of envisioning and then building a piece of art then lighting it on fire and watching as the flames dance in people’s eyes. To leave no trace of your vision except in the souls of hundreds would be an amazing everlasting feeling.

 

AfterBurn 2016, Maddox Ranch, Lakeland, Florida – Photo: Sam Gifford, Used With Permission

 

Project submissions will be considered up to $5000 for materials and associated costs. To have your individual or group design considered for AfterBurn: Restoration, register your project’s intentions at the form linked below for an immediate review and follow-up call. For questions, email board@burntoranges.org.

Jennifer Boyer,
Burner, Volunteer, Board Member

Project funding requests for Honoraria will close 9/15/2017 unless extensions are requested.

Your effigy will burn in 85 days.

https://goo.gl/forms/Hu88RmGZQzHQwbH82

Set your life on fire. Seek those that fan your flames
~Rumi

Welcome to the Indaba

Welcome To The Indaba

Do you ever look at a piece of art, and wonder, “How the hell did they make that?!” Imagine a space where you can communicate, ask questions, and collaborate with the artists in our community. Imagine a space that provides an opportunity for participants to learn, grow and educate each other as they  gain new ideas & skillsets.

Heart artists; Buttercup & Fluffernutter

The goal of The Indaba is to create the cultural hub that embodies the 10 principles and beyond. A place where artists can view sketches, discuss their past or current projects that are in the works and provide prototypes of their art to exhibit. Perhaps you possess an interesting skill and want to host a workshop, or be a speaker and talk about your first playa experience; the opportunities are endless. I am excited to introduce to you a new part of infrastructure that will give participants the opportunity to be inspired by each other, with each other.

Photo by Sara Laroux, inside the man 2012

 

“When artists give form to revelation, their art can advance, deepen and potentially transform the consciousness of their community.” ~ Alex Grey

 

About The Indaba

An Indaba is a tribal conference, the word coming from the Zulu word for “business” or “matter”. The event’s executive committee would like to provide the community with a place to discuss their future and take a new shape. The free-form tent that’s been donated provides an open-walled structure that can be entered from any side. By combining the word and the tent with some needs; a bunch of stuff became a thing; a necessary and welcome feature on our event’s new landscape.

The AfterBurn Indaba is a 3,700 square foot shaded structure containing:

  • A performance and presenter stage
  • A small, amplified sound system
  • The event’s combined Info Booth & Volunteer station
  • A hosted coffee and tea house
  • Small-scale art pieces and exhibitions

The Indaba’s goal is to promote participation in the community by providing a shared infrastructure for artists to display their artistic processes, exhibit their work and to show everyone “how they got there.” Participants will also be able to host community-led talks, workshops, & events.

 

We invite Artists and community leaders to teach workshops and lead discussions on large-scale participatory art, sharing what they’ve learned so an entire generation of skills may be passed down.

 

Community Grant Salon

Burnt Oranges will be utilizing the space to host a Community Grant Salon. We invite participants to present ideas for multiple, immediate $599 micro-grant awards to take back into your communities for public art and civic action projects. Awards are based on participant votes; don’t miss your chance to help fund the community’s dreams. More information will be posted on the new web site, stay tuned.

BWB’s version of the Indaba, Black Rock City, 2016

 

Ideate

Can you imagine it? Do you envision it? Do you want be a part of it? After many months of planning, I will tell you that this cannot happen without you. Look at this concept as if it’s our own community tree. We have the dirt, we’re planting the seeds, and the participants are the water. The water will make our tree grow and flourish into the biggest, beautiful tree you’ve yet to see.

So the real question is, do you want to share something amazing?

Are you a master at making fire poofers, or have you built a grand piece of art? Or maybe you’re an acoustic musician, spoken word poet, or a guided meditations guru, or want to lead an ecstatic dance workshop, that part is up to you.

Photo of Carey Thompson’s Portal to Center Camp. BM 2012

 

Participate

There are also opportunities (aside from participatory submissions) available. Do you want to help lead and coordinate this project? Do you have building experience and would like to help build the entrance portal for the Indaba?

For questions, email indaba@burntoranges.org

For ideas, presenter submissions, and volunteering, fill out this:

https://goo.gl/forms/brmaLMaOaiEINybv1

Sara “Fluffernutter” LaRoux,
Burner, Indaba Lead, and Board Member