Regional Contact Search!

The Regional Network Team at Burning Man, in collaboration with the Bold Urban Renaissance Network is searching for an amazing community member to contribute their spark and join the Chicago Regional Contact Team!

Regional Contacts volunteer year-round to build and nurture Burning Man community initiatives on a local level. They facilitate communication and collaboration with and between local community members, various local community groups and the Burning Man Regional Network Team. Could this be YOU? 

Step up! For more information about the Regional Contact role and the Network, visit the Burningman.org website:

About the Regional Network

Regional Contact Selection Process

Regional Leadership Criteria.
Bonus points if you have experiences and skills in some of the below areas in particular:

Reliable with a record of following through on projects

Willing to grow and learn within a culture that is demanding accountability

Able to navigate complex issues of consent

Strong communications and active listening skills

Approachable and visible within the community

Capacity to commit time and energy in this role

If you'd like to apply to join the Chicago Regional Contact Team, please email your self-nomination letter to regional-network at burningman.orgwith "Chicago" in the subject line by August 5th midnight CDT. After the two week window to self-nominate closes, we'll send a Community Feedback survey to gather your input and experiences with the candidates.

Search timeline includes:

August 5, 2019 - Self-nomination and application deadline

August 20, 2019 - Opportunity for community feedback on candidates closes 

September 18, 2019 - Interviews with local interview team completed

October 1, 2019 - New Regional Contact selection announced and on-boarding begins!

Iris and the Burning Man Regional Network team send hugs from Burning Man Headquarters and are looking forward to hearing from you!

B. U. R. N. is thinking of you: 2017 Financial Reports Posted

The 2017 end-of-year financial report has been released for our Bold Urban Renaissance Network (BURN), the not-for-profit (NFP) legal entity behind Chicago Decompression and BURN burn. The report includes details past and present for both events and those details are repeated in an event only-report for the TLDR crowd. 

As Scottfree described in his Valentine's message (reposted below), we've committed $2,500 from the proceeds of last year's events and fundraisers to add to the available balance for the Art Grants Program, and $500 to added to the BWB Civic Grant Program.

That means a little over $700 goes into our reserves this year, but last year we tapped the same amount FROM reserves to keep steady funding for the grant programs. So, Balance and such.

BURN is also a fiscal sponsor for the programs of Burners without Borders in Chicago and Detroit some other. That's a fancy term for holding their purses: accepting donations on their behalf and funds raised by their volunteers then marking in the accounting books that those funds are reserved for BWB projects and grants (similar to what Black Rock Arts and now Burning Man Project do for BWB at the national level).

We also accept the proceeds collected by Recycle Camp and ChiCargo Playa Shipping and put those in an account for International Artist Exchange grant program between AfrikaBurn and Lakes of Fire as their volunteers request.  The Funds designated for BWB and for various grant programs add up to more than what we have in the bank.

The one thing you wont see in the balance sheets are salaries. We're all volunteers here. from the greeters and rangers at Decompression to the members of our committees and board.

I'd like to thank all of these volunteers once again.

But I'd also like to give special personal thanks to Lena who, among many things as a volunteer, has taken over working to get our grantees get paid and processed quickly - and better than I had been able to. Also, thanks to Dearie for recommending Lena for this work. 

"Flipit" - on behalf of Bold Urban Renaissance Network.

-

B.U.R.N. Loves You: 2018 Art Grants funding levels announced

We B.U.R.N. for you…

During our monthly B.U.R.N.-Ops meeting, Bold Urban Renaissance
Network set the funding levels for its 2, count 'em, 2 Art Grant
cycles for 2018.

We're proud and excited to announce that this year B.U.R.N. will be
awarding $7000 in Art Grants to you, the Burner artists of Chicagoland
(or, hell, non-Burners, for that matter). That's a $2500 increase from
2017!

Who do you have to thank for all this? You, the Chicago Burning Man
community. Through direct donations; big events like B.U.R.N. Burn and
Chicago's Decompression 2017: The Ouroboros; and even the little
things like shopping through Amazon Smile and donating the proceeds to
B.U.R.N., you make it all happen.

As we get the ball rolling on B.U.R.N. Burn—look for some big
announcements in the days to come—we'll give you all the details on
how to apply for 2018's first Art Grant Cycle. We're looking forward
to seeing the great things you do with it.

Happy Valentine's Day, Burners. We love you all. (Yes, even you.)

-Scott Free, on the behalf of Bold Urban Renaissance Network

Spring/Summer 2017 B.U.R.N. Art Grant Winners

It is with great pleasure that we present the Spring 2017 BURN art grant recipients! We had 15 awesome applications (the most ever!) for the $2000 pool of grant money.

While they were all awesome, given the amount of BURN-related events in and around Chicago coming up, we have focused our limited resources this cycle on projects headed to BURN BURN and Figment.

* SPRING 2017 Recipients*

Community Bloom by Cheryl Gallo

Screen Dream Machine by Rohan Thadani & Hannah Aubry

Memento Serenous by Niklas Gahm

Spacecats 2.0 by Ayda Keshtkar

Black Light Hike by Lenny Melto

Community Puzzle by Johanna Voos

Brilliantly Blooming Woods by Doug Peters

Igloo Obscura by Savannah Jerome-Branson

The Flaming Photobooth by James Villalpando

***

We want to give away even more money to more artists soon! Consider a donation to BURN Art Grants, or help conceive and throw a fundraiser and let's help some folks make rad art!

B.U.R.N. Burn Logo Design Competition!

Our brand spanking new spring burn needs a brand spanking new logo. We want YOU to design that logo for us. Things you should know: we're collecting submissions through February 24th. The event is on 4/20. Fire.

The logo should:

• reflect the event's mission to foster community arts through grass-roots projects and civic collaborations
• conveys its efforts to create, display, and support interactive arts and civic participation that inspires action and connects people by moving them from passive spectators to creative participants
• embodies all Chicago Burners' dedication to inspiring positive creative change in the participants and in the wider community
• Maybe symbolizes those things that make a Burn a Burn: camping and/or fire? Maybe…
• looks cool an' stuff.

Something that does all of the above would be great, but really any two of 'em will do. Let's see what you've got!

The details, creative- and technical-wise:

• Logos should be vector art (so created in Illustrator and submitted as an Illustrator EPS file would be ideal…but there are, in theory, other options)
• While multi-color logos will be considered, any multi-color logo should be accompanied by a solid (no halftones, no gradients), single-color version on white. sometimes logos gotta be one color—say, when you're screenprinting it, for instance, or on a fax (it still happens, on rare occasions)
• Logomarks should be accompanied by type: "B.U.R.N. burn” or “B.U.R.N. Burn” or “B.U.R.N. BURN”

• Any imagery used must be legal and licensed for use: either original imagery by you, used with the permission of the artist, or public domain.

Logos must be submitted by Friday, February 24 at 11:59pm (Central Standard Time). Send submissions to info@boldurban.org

The selection process: submissions will be anonymized (no favoritism here), evaluated, and the winning logo selected by the B.U.R.N.-Ops committee during their February meeting. While B.U.R.N.-Ops members may submit logos for consideration, in order to avoid a conflict of interest, any B.U.R.N.-Ops member submitting a logo will be ineligible to participate or vote in the selection process.

The designer of the selected logo may be asked to do a round of revisions to get the design fully in line with all technical and creative specs. We'll try to keep it quick, minimal and painless.

Good luck, logo designers. Let's see what you've got!

Fall Flash Art Grant Cycle

B.U.R.N. presents: The Fall Flash Art Grant Cycle

[photo credit: Randi Cutler. Detail from Randi Cutler's "Kraken at See-Saw", a past B.U.R.N. art grant recipient]

Just in time for Chicago's Official Decompression: Mad Science! up to $1000 will be made available in grants for art to be installed at Decompression on Friday, November 4th.

Individual Grant Cap: $200 (receipts mandatory)

Application: http://boldurban.org/art-grant-form/

Individuals can apply for grants of up to $200 to cover materials, supplies, and/or transportation costs*. Relevant receipts must be produced for reimbursement. (Keep in mind that at our volunteer- and gifting-driven community events there is no such a thing as billable time, so installation itself is not grant-worthy.)

*a local Burner has offered make his cargo van available for art
transportation within the city, if needed, so as to avoid unnecessary
vehicle rentals. Inquire here.

Lakes of Fire needs an effigy design!

10 DAYS LEFT TO GET YOUR SUBMISSIONS IN. FEB 6TH IS THE DEADLINE.

Even if your proposal is not 100% completed we would still like to see what you have in mind for YOUR LOF EFFIGY 2016

Calling all Fire Lovers and Effigy-Smiths!

Open submission for the 2016 Lakes of Fire Effigy is happening now! Have an idea for something really big that looks great on fire? We have a terrific opportunity for you to have your vision come to life, or help someone see their vision come to life.  Read this email in its entirety if you have a burning desire to get your hands dirty with a team of artisans soon to be constructing one of the most generously funded art pieces at Lakes of Fire.

*Effigy Design*

It’s an open design contest, there are guidelines, but no limitations to your creativity. Inspired, imaginative, and challenging designs are welcome. Show us what inspires you, tell us why it will inspire others.

*Effigy Build Team*

The Effigy Build Team is a volunteer group of individuals who are willing to build it, bring it, set it up and burn it down. Your Build Team can submit a design, or can build a design submitted by another applicant. Previous build teams crafted a swingin’ tree, erected a pyramid and stuffed a ball inside it, beached a plywood whale, lit up a lighthouse, got all industrial with a factory, and last year brought a thrust-powered alien spaceship.

What will you build?

How will people interact with it?

What does it inspire in each of us?

If you are part of an effigy team that’s SUPER, but an effigy build team is not required to submit a design. This is your opportunity to see your imagination come to life even if you've never used a power tool. We are a community, and as a community can help you build your vision.

*Effigy Council*

Comprised of experienced builders and artisans from past Effigy Build teams, the Effigy Council represents our community by aiding and abetting those rare souls that really want to see their creations as the centerpiece of the festival; entertaining, enlivening, and positively interacting with the community. We also help to ensure that it gets burnt to the ground in a grand and beautiful fashion. We are here to advise on safety, economy, scheduling, and volunteer labor.

*Submittal Deadline*

If you are interested in submitting a design please email *effigy@lakesoffire.org* to register and obtain examples of past proposals for reference. Please include contact information (Name, Playa Name, Email, Phone Number) for your Build Lead and/or Effigy Lead.

*Your completed effigy proposals are due on February 6, 2016 and must bedigitally submitted to: effigy@lakesoffire.org

*The Council will be meeting on shortly after to chose a winner. *

*Helpful Resources*

An important read before you submit: So you wanna build an effigy

<https://docs.google.com/document/d/10m0gYZ0VziOtb2ASCdAwkqlMJzBKNEYehrIG

6PRy32M/edit>

Submittal guidelines: http://tinyurl.com/loffigy15callout.
Email all inquiries, thanks and praises to: effigy@lakesoffire.org

Burn baby burn
-The Effigy Council