BLACK ROCK ARTS FOUNDATION

2009-12-16T10:38:00.000-08:00

Please join us for the dedication of Tree Spire, a permanent installation, on Thursday, December 10th at 12:30 pm.

A gift to the families and citizens that enjoy Whitaker Park!

Funded by Burning Man and exhibited in Black Rock City 2007, “Tree Spire” was the first project created by the Seattle art collective, the Iron Monkeys. They created 4 fifteen-foot tall trees that were part of the "Mangrove", a group of simulated trees fashioned from recycled industrial materials, surrounding the center-focused icon The Man. These artificial trees were not burned: they survived to subdivide the blue of other skies.

Brought to the south bank of the Truckee River in downtown Reno, on the corner of Sierra Street and Island Avenue after the 2008 Burning Man event, the “Tree Spire” was displayed in the center of a collection of eight tree sculptures made by five different artist collectives called The Mangrove. The creative works were made from construction waste and reclaimed materials. The [BRAF] and a Project Grant from the City of Reno’s Art and Culture Commission funded this project.

The Black Rock Arts Foundation was awarded a Public Art Challenge Grant in 2008 towards the permanent installation of “Tree Spire” in a city park. That grant was matched by donations from Ward 5, Old Northwest Neighborhood Advisory Board, and City Councilman David Aiazzi to place the sculpture in Whitaker Park. Additional funding came from The Robert Z. Hawkins Foundation, Reno Burners LLC, and the Black Rock Arts Foundation.

The Black Rock Arts Foundation thanks the following people, businesses and organizations for their generous support of Tree Spire:

City of Reno: Christine Fey, Stacey Spain, Councilman David Aiazzi, City
of Reno Parks & Recreation
Black Rock Arts Foundation: Crimson Rose, Maria Partridge

Reno Volunteers: Richard Johnson, Bill Schultz, Erika Wesnousky, Dave Kaul, Berry Scott

Ward 5, Old Northwest Neighborhood Advisory Board

Robert Z. Hawkins Foundation

Reno Burners LLC

Fernley Electric

Ahearn Equipment, Inc.

Clean Energy Center

Telesto Nevada Inc.

United Ready Mix

Black Rock City, LLC – Burning Man

AND to the Artists that made it happen: Tabasco Mills, T-Bone, Dave and the Iron Monkeys!

The Iron Monkeys are a Seattle-based metalworking collective, working under the gentle guidance and watchful eye of Tabasco Mills, owner of Seattle's The Blacksmith Shop www.theblacksmithshop.com/ironmonkeys.html .

They work together creating large-scale sculptural pieces, often containing functional elements, and work collaboratively to evolve designs as each work is being developed. Their work has been on display temporarily in Black Rock City at the Burning Man event, Reno Mangrove, Burien Interim Arts Space, and permanently at Rainier Vista's Central Park in South Seattle, Washington and now in Whitaker Park, in northwest Reno, Nevada.

For more information on other activities of the Black Rock Arts Foundation - http://www.blackrockarts.org/

ARTumnal Gathering

2009-11-26T20:43:00.001-08:00

artumnal-36
Originally uploaded by jackie cat eye

Mark Morford and Pilar Woodman

ARTumnal Gathering "Pilar Woodman"

2009-11-26T10:22:00.001-08:00

Lightning, Amber & Chris Bently (a special thanks for the Bently's generosity is donating the use of the wonderful Bently Reserve for the ARTumnal Gathering)

Feast of Imagination Pendants created by JennyBird Alcantara

Feast of Imagination dinner

photos: Pilar Woodman

To see a lot more of Pilar’s ARTumnal photos check out http://pilarwoodmanphotography.com/artumnal09

Rouge la Belle

2009-11-25T20:06:00.001-08:00

Rouge la Belle
Originally uploaded by Eric Gillet

ARTumnal Gathering 2009

2009-11-25T20:04:00.001-08:00

artumnal-43
Originally uploaded by jackie cat eye

at the fabulous Bently Reserve

ARTumnal Gathering 2009

2009-11-25T20:03:00.001-08:00

artumnal-59
Originally uploaded by jackie cat eye

Freddy Hahne, President of the BRAF Board of Directors

BRAF Artumnal 2009

2009-11-25T19:58:00.001-08:00

BRAF Artumnal
Originally uploaded by granz2000

ARTumanal Gathering 2009

2009-11-25T19:55:00.001-08:00

AerialAA1542
Originally uploaded by deemiloh

Shrine painting live at Artumnal Gathering

2009-11-25T19:42:00.001-08:00

Shrine painting live at Artumnal Gathering
Originally uploaded by mr. nightshade

ARTumnal Gathering "video"

2009-11-25T08:32:00.000-08:00

Check out this fabulous video about the ARTumnal and the Black Rock Arts Foundation:

Untitled from rajeshwari on Vimeo.

ARTumnal Gathering Photos #3

2009-11-24T09:26:00.001-08:00

David Best, BRAF Board Member and Harley Dubois, founding member of the Burning Man board and the Black Rock Arts Foundation, raising money for the Black Rock Arts Foundation

photos: D'Milo aka deemiloh

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14418974@N03/sets/72157622727007043/

photos: Robin Russell Ford

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/album.php?aid=125281&id=628136794&ref=mf

affinity, your BRAF blogger

Exact Lee aka Joe Olivier, BRAF Board Member

Troubador aka Flaming Tuba Guy aka David Silverman, BRAF Advisory Board Member, with one of the Trees

to see more photos:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/album.php?aid=127515&id=827830418

photos: Timothy Foster

ARTumnal Gathering "The Blight"

2009-11-24T00:55:00.000-08:00

These were each so beautiful it was difficult to choose!

photos: http://theblight.net/09/artumnal/

ARTumnal Gathering Photos #1

2009-11-23T18:34:00.000-08:00

The Black Rock Arts Foundation created the grandest annual celebration of our ommunity's vital spirit and extraordinary artists. We gathered in the majestic Bently Reserve to revel in support of BRAF's mission to inspire art, community and civic participation worldwide.

It was an enchanted world of abundant art, captivating entertainment, participatory interactive art experiences created by community visionaries and tempting libations.

Over the next week we will be bringing you a variety of photographers, from mobile uploads to professional photographers, with a link to more of their photos. So keep checking back, the next photo could be of you.

Mara Jeffress and Rachel Carpenter, BRAF Board Member
Laura Kimpton, obviously having a great time

Chris Paine, Brian Herman, Melissa Alexander and Dr. Deb (both BRAF Advisory Board Members)

Cory and Catska Ench, the artists who created the wonderful art for our poster this year

Photos: Rachel Carpenter

Rachel Carpenter’s Facebook ARTumnal Photos

The ARTumnal Gathering is SOLD OUT!!!

2009-11-18T14:59:00.000-08:00

That means there are not tickets to be sold at the door!!

ARTumnal Update: Tickets Selling Fast

2009-11-11T05:50:00.000-08:00

Here’s an update on the ARTumnal -- quickly coming together as the event of the year.

New performers, artists, DJs, fashion designers, and other creatives are joining in every day. Alchemy is curating astonishing interactive artwork. Shrine’s central installation will be unlike anything the Great Banking Hall of the Bently Reserve has ever seen. Live painting by Android Jones. Live bands, individual performers and top DJs will keep you enthralled until way too late in the evening.

Check out the BRAF ARTumnal Site for more information

Dinner tickets will SELL OUT in the next couple days. If you’ve been thinking about attending the dinner, get that ticket today. Tickets for the main event are also selling fast. Although we have more room than last year, we still have limited capacity. We’ve kept the price low because we want you all there.

photos from the ARTumnal 2008
More photos from the ARTumnal 2008
And even more photos from the ARTumnal 2008

BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW

Auction Items: http://www.blackrockarts.org/events/artumnal09auction

We can’t wait to see you there!

Artwork by Cory and Catska Ench

2009-11-08T18:03:00.000-08:00

Carmel Dunlap, BRAF Advisory Board Member and Tomas McCabe BRAF Executive Director, Burning Man 2009

Carmel Dunlap is the youngest member of the Black Rock Arts Foundation Advisory Board. She is an innovative, creative activist. In 2008 Carmel and Ayeen Telopa organized TRASH to TREASURES, a recycled fashion show featuring clothes they created. They raised hundreds of dollars for the Rock Papers Scissors Collective in Oakland. For their creativity and effectiveness, Carmel & Ayeen received the Innovation Award for 2008.

This summer Carmel went to South America, interning with an environmental group in Quito that is involved in representing indigenous people in the Amazon. This is what Derek Sabori, the Volcom V.Co-Logical Society, Environmental Affairs Division, General Manager had to say about Carmel.

Carmel was a V.co-logical Ambassador for us last summer - Traveling, experiencing, learning and sharing. Carmel is in her last year of high school and sets the standard for youth activists, getting out there, getting involved and doing something about it. Check out Carmel’s blog and get inspired. Share this with as many youngsters as possible; we need more Carmel’s out there...

photo: affinity

Grant Applications Now Being Accepted!

2009-11-05T00:53:00.000-08:00

Cardboardia one of our 2009 Grantees!

Artists! The Black Rock Arts Foundation is now accepting grant applications for community-based, interactive art projects around the world. Apply now!

Our grant recipients represent a range of ideas and interactions worth celebrating. Some of our grantees set out to create highly interactive, publicly engaging work in the spirit of the art experienced at Burning Man. Others extend existing collective art projects, continuing the momentum and reach of their works. Others still employ a valuable connection with the emerging Burning Man Regional Network, expanding our geographic reach, while nurturing individual artists' capacity to create works in and with their own local communities. Seed and challenge grants given in this cycle help artists obtain further support.

"The Work Office"

2009-10-25T06:05:00.000-07:00

One of our 2009 Grantees, "The Work Office", a participatory performance inspired by the Work Projects Administration (WPA) during the Great Depression caught the attention of Boing Boing this week. Check it out!

Our Prior Post

Installing the "Tree Spire" in Reno

2009-10-24T08:23:00.000-07:00

The TREE SPIRE

Tabasco, T-Bone, Dave Moore, Maria Partridge, Richard Johnson, Crimson Rose and Stacey Spain

Sunday, finishing the details photos: Crimson Rose

And then the sunset came signalling the end of this day of installation

Saturday installation photos: Crimson Rose

Installation of the Tree Spire in Whitaker Park, Reno, NV photos: Maria Partridge

RENO, NV – Previously exhibited at Burning Man in 2007, and then in Reno last fall as part of "The Mangrove", the 15-foot steel tree called "Tree Spire" is now a permanent sculpture in Whitaker Park in old northwest Reno.

"Tree Spire" was designed by David "Tabasco" Mills and the Iron Monkeys out of Seattle.

The Black Rock Arts Foundation received a $5,000 public art challenge grant, which they had to double, to pay for the artwork and installation. City Councilman Dave Aiazzi gave $1,000 and his ward's 5 neighborhood advisory boards gave $4,000.

They have installed the Tree Spire, and we have a few photos so you can see the process. First the concrete was poured, the tree base was leveled and then Erika a Controlled Burn stilt walker balanced on a 2x4 that was laid across and above the concrete. Councilman Dave Aiazzi was there...his wife, daughter in law and grandkids came by to play in the park during one morning!

Richard says that an art installation is like a "building marathon".

Saturday dawned and more welding was done, fitting the bench and securing the bench around the tree, then the branches were secured and the electricity went into place. The final day was spent finishing attaching the final branches and lanterns. As the sun set on the beautiful fall day the Tree Spire stood tall and complete in the Reno sun.

Crew:

Tabasco

T-Bone aka Anthony Moulton

Dave Moore

Maria Partridge

Crimson Rose

Stacey Spain

Richard Johnson

Bill Schultz

Dave Kaul

Dave Aiazzi

Erika Wesnousky

RGJ.Com article about the Tree Spire

See Celtic Forest Soon!

2009-10-18T04:52:00.000-07:00

If you have not been by to experience the Celtic Forest in Reno lately, now is the time. Watch the video clip above to get a better feel for how fabulous it is. Maria Partridge, Black Rock Arts Foundation Advisory Board Member, who keeps Celtic Forest running, sent us the following:

Celtic Forest in downtown Reno is still going strong with the art walk on fire Tuesday and Friday nights. Controlled Burn spins fire to world music from 7-9:30 pm on Tuesday nights. There is live music on Friday nights and Sunday afternoons. Be sure to check out the Zombie Crawl on Friday Oct. 30 starting at 7 pm ...Music and "Thriller" dance is scheduled at 9pm. Celtic Forest is due to be removed late Novmber so see it while you can.

Prior Posts

photo: Mark Hammon http://www.truckeerivergallery.com/

2009-10-13T19:41:00.000-07:00

We are excited to tell you that our very own Josie Schimke, Program and Development Assistant at the Black Rock Arts Foundation is a panelist tomorrow at Meet the Grantmakers: Funding Opportunities for Individual Artists at the Foundation Center.

photo: http://theblight.net/

The Culture Labs Invite You To Participate at SF's Decompression

2009-10-10T06:50:00.001-07:00

The Culture Labs at Burning Man 2009

This year at Burning Man, the various outreach groups of Burning Man (Black Rock Arts Foundation, Burners Without Borders, The Regional Network and Black Rock Solar) teamed up to create a unified presence on the playa-The Culture Labs.

This year at San Francisco's Decompression, The Culture Labs will once again host an interactive gathering space where together, we'll create and propagate our culture to be carried into the default world the other 51 weeks of the year. How are you nurturing the seeds in your own community that we all collectively plant in Black Rock City every year?

You are invited to stop by, sit a spell and share your story of personal evolution with other folks looking for inspiration and ideas about how we can all bring the Burner ethos to our communities year-round.

To read more about The Culture Labs at Burning Man 2009

photo: Jewel

Culture Labs at Burning Man 2009

2009-10-10T06:48:00.000-07:00

Playing Exquisite Corpse at the Culture Labs on the Playa.

The microscope and petri dish were great fun, and there is Freddy Hahne, the President of our Board hanging out with some visitor!

And there we all were!

There was information everywhere!

A poster of the "American Dream Temple" in Detroit

The campers who made the "Culture Lab" run this year.

And our own Executive Director, Tomas McCabe, early one day, waiting for you to stop by and say hello.

Haven't you always wanted to know more about the outreach groups of Burning Man? You hear they are placing art in China, and solar in Nevada, are creating community activists everywhere, and have events hosted locally as far away as Spain and as close as Silicon Valley.

Well, if you do, I hope you got a chance to stop by the Culture Labs and play Exquisite Corpse, or check out our Microscope, or put your feet up and experience the symbiosis of the Black Rock Arts Foundation, Burners Without Borders, The Regional Network and Black Rock Solar.

I have a special place in my heart for these outreach groups, I love the idea of creating our culture and making a difference the other 51 weeks of the year. So here was a chance, just like 2008, to meet them all in one place as they teamed up once more to create a unified presence on the playa, known as… The Culture Labs!

The Culture Labs, housed under one large pavilion (which might have looked familiar… it’s one of the pavilions that surrounded the Man in 2007 and 2008!) hosted interactive activities, art projects, events and gatherings (which were listed in the What Where When guide). The goal was to breed and propagate our culture to be carried into the default world. Friendly 'lab assistants' were available to talk about their various programs and projects.

The center of the Culture Labs held a giant petri dish and microscope (containing a video camera)! You were invited (but not required) to lie underneath the microscope and tell the story of YOUR personal evolution. At night, hopefully, those recordings were projected on a 50 foot rear-projected screen. Of course there were some technical issues, that is how you know it's Burning Man.

photos: Jewel, affinity, Extramatic

Celebrate Global Lives

2009-09-28T18:17:00.000-07:00

One of our 2008 Grant Recipients is about to have a residency at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts!

Please join board members and friends of Global Lives Project for a brunch and fundraiser in honor of Global Lives Project's upcoming residency at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.

Sunday October 4th, 2009
11am to 2pm

At the home of Tony Maridakis and Paul Ryder

65 Noe Street, San Francisco, California, 94114

brunch, live music, and film from Japan, Brazil, Indonesia, China,India, San Francisco, Serbia, & Malawi.

Balinese traditional music on suling (bamboo flute) performed by Ken Worthy of Gamelan Kori Mas

Please RSVP by October 1st to 415.845.9396 or tony@globallives.org

Can't make it but want to contribute? http://globallives.org/donate

PRIOR POST

The ARTumnal Gathering - Tickets On Sale Now!

2009-09-19T03:39:00.000-07:00

Tickets On Sale Now!

The Black Rock Arts Foundation presents our third annual fundraising event, The ARTumnal Gathering

Friday, November 20, 2009
The Bently Reserve,
400 Sansome St.
San Francisco, CA 94111

The Black Rock Arts Foundation invites you to the grandest annual celebration of our community's vital spirit and extraordinary artists. Once again, we gather in the majestic Bently Reserve to revel in support of BRAF's mission to inspire art, community and civic participation worldwide.

Enter into an enchanted world of abundant art, captivating entertainment and tempting libations. Participate in interactive art experiences created by communiy visionaries. Be the art!

Artwork by Cory and Catska Ench

Performances by
Andrew Jones (visuals and performance)
Brainchild (interactive video)
DJ Gravity with Krystal Jones (Pink Mammoth)
Dr. Abacus
Fou Fou HA!
Icon (Opulent Temple)
Kerri Kresinski (aerial)
Loyd Family Players
Mace (Brass Tax)
Mancub (Space Cowboys)
Miss Velvet Cream (fashions)
Ubuv
Interactive Art Experiences curated by Alchemy (False Profit)

...and many other special performers to be announced!

ARTumnal Celebration
$35 Online presale
9:00 pm - 3:00 am
Includes an evening of featured and roaming performances, DJs, dancing, raffle, photography sale and surprises.

$35 presale online, $45 at the door.

Feast of Imagination
6:00 pm - 3:00 am $200
Includes an individual seat for a sumptuous dinner, auction, performances, absinthe tasting, wine, dessert, presentations from BRAF artists and entry to the Artumnal Celebration.

Feast of Imagination - Reserved Table for Eight
$2400
6:00 pm - 3:00 am
Includes a reserved table for eight for the Feast of Imagination.

BUY TICKETS NOW!

The ARTumnal Gathering, 2008 Photo by Nick Winterhalter