Communal Effort
Building it Better, Together
“Burning Man has the potential to show the world how to survive, how to invent, how to create, how to adapt.”
~ Michael Mikel, Cultural Co-Founder and Founding Board Member (Burning Man LIVE podcast, Episode 41)
“I love it when… somebody comes up with an idea and it’s so large that they are incapable of doing it themselves. And they pull people together. I believe that Communal Effort makes most of the other Principles happen because you radically include people into your project and they all can participate and express themselves through this larger project that they’re creating.”
– Athena Demos, BRCvr lead (Burning Man LIVE podcast, Episode 37)
Growing up in Burning Man “has taught me that no matter who you are, you have a community.”
~ Jamie, age 14 (12 Burns)
Hot Gerlach Summer
Whatever was happening in Gerlach during the summer of 2021 smelled an awful lot like Burning Man. Staff were mighty busy building shade structures, erecting art, renovating buildings, driving heavy equipment, painting murals… doing all the stuff Burners love to do.
The dusty crews were carrying out much-needed repairs and improvements in Gerlach and at “the 360,” a piece of land we own just outside of town. What are we building? Spaces for community, and creativity.
“The plan is for the land to be developed into a maker space for artists, theme camp organizers and mutant vehicle owners, plus storage space for containers. There will be other things, too, if all goes well, including a 100-acre sculpture park that will provide a glimpse of what Burning Man is like to the Burner-curious who pass through Gerlach.”
– John Curley, writer & photographer, “If You Build it They Will Come,” Burning Man Journal
“I really feel like this is that next moment in time. … It’s that next line in the sand, where we’re all gonna step over, and the world (becomes) a different place. Years from now, we’re all going to be looking out at this amazing complex, at the 360, and remember that we were all here together at the beginning.”
~ Rae ‘Stingray’ Richman, Board Member 2011-2017, and Strategic Advisor
“I am grateful that the opportunity for folks to come and experience building something Burning Man related still exists, and that the challenges and experiences are available to all.“
– Molly Starkovich, Nevada Operations Administrative Coordinator
“As word spread that stuff was happening out in Gerlach, the engine of invention sputtered back to life and people began coming together to make some magic happen, the same kind of magic that we make every year when we prepare for Black Rock City. Black Rock City didn’t happen in 2021 but Burning Man was alive and well in the Black Rock Desert this year. So much work was accomplished and seeds were planted toward 2022 and beyond.”
~ Chris ‘Chaos’ Neary, Associate Director, Department of Public Works