Burner Network

As we head into Burning Man 2022, we want to celebrate the eleven amazing camps our Camp Honoraria Program and its grants helped return to playa this year with $12k in grant monies.

Thank you to our donors whose generosity made our program possible, our Grant Committee whose time and dedication allowed us to carefully review 38 applications and make thoughtful decisions about which camps to support, and finally to our applicants and winners whose commitment to make it back to playa and bring their amazing interactivity makes Burning Man the special event it is.

Our winners for the 2022 grant cycle were:

Camp Luminos – $1,000 for gourd lantern-making interactivity

Camp of Misfit Toys – $1,000 for holiday ornament-making interactivity

Gender Blender – $1,000 for gender spectrum educational workshop and performance series

Northwest Mist – $1,000 for misting tent decorated with Northwest-themed artwork

Dye With Dignity – $1,000 for tie-dying fabric interactivity

Land of Monkey – $1,000 for educational workshops on necklace crafting and hardware programming interactivity

Disco Ballz – $1,000 for improvements to their interactive mutant vehicle

Co-Reality Collective – $1,000 for series of interactive improvisation shows that transform online Zoom calls into live, in-person experiences

Clue Bar – $1,000 for interactive murder mystery performances

Miso – $1,000 for the provision of traditional Japanese miso soup and environs

Swing City – $2,000 for their interactive acrobatic playground

Our Grant Committee is pleased to announce that it has selected Gender Blender for the third $1,000 grant from our Camp Honoraria Program!

Gender Blender started as a Burning Man camp in 2009 with the mission to be a home for trans, nonbinary, genderqueer, gender nonconforming, gender questioning, cross dressing, drag kings, queens, and all that’s in-between. Since then, Gender Blender has grown to be a vibrant community on and off-playa committed to social justice and liberation. Every year on playa, Gender Blender hosts educational workshops, creative performances, trans and enby support groups, and other fun, high-quality content. Gender Blender is a project of Gender Illumination, a 501(c)(3) located in the San Francisco Bay Area. For more information about Gender Blender and Gender Illumination, please visit: www.genderillumination.com.

The grant from Burner Network, funded by burners for burners, will help Gender Blender return to the playa in 2022 to host their amazing events with a focus on radical inclusion and building community. 

As the Burning Man Project continues to spotlight diversity issues in the burner community through its Radical Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (R.I.D.E.) effort, Burner Network is proud to support a camp that adds so much to the rich tapestry of Black Rock City. We’re also thankful to our generous donors and volunteers that make this support possible, and, as always, we encourage you to join us:

• If you’d like to donate money towards the program, please visit Donate.
• If you’d like to apply for a grant from the program, please visit Apply for a Grant.
• If you’d like to volunteer to serve on our Grant Committee, please visit Volunteer.

Congratulations again to Ariel Vegosen and her camp on their grant!

Following last month’s announcement of a grant to Camp Luminos, our Grant Committee is pleased to announce that it has selected Camp of Misfit Toys for the second $1,000 grant from our Camp Honoraria Program!

Camp of Misfit Toys is an Anaheim, California-based theme camp led by Angela “Lollypop” Pacheco. They have attended Burning Man regularly since 2009, originally as a placed camp through 2014, but most recently in open camping. In addition to attending Burning Man, the camp is an active participant in the LA Decompression post-Burning Man event. The camp’s interactivity is to help visitors construct and decorate beautiful ornaments in-line with the camp’s holiday theme. Besides ornament crafting, they also deliver toys from “Santa” and gift milk and cookies.

The grant from Burner Network, funded by burners for burners, will help Camp of Misfit Toys return to the playa in 2022 so that they can again offer their unique ornament crafting opportunity at Burning Man.

We believe that camps like Camp of Misfit Toys, and the interactivity they provide, whether as placed camps or in open camping, are the heart and soul of the Burning Man experience, and we are thankful to our donors and volunteers for helping us support them.

Congratulations again to Lollypop and her camp on their grant!

After an extensive review process, our Grant Committee has selected Camp Luminos as the first recipient of a $1,000 grant from our Camp Honoraria Program!

Camp Luminos is a Phoenix, Arizona-based theme camp led by David “Starchild” Bell. They have attended Burning Man regularly since 2014, and the camp’s interactivity is to help visitors construct and decorate beautiful lanterns made from dried gourds.

The grant from Burner Network, funded by burners for burners, will help Camp Luminos return to the playa in 2022 so that they can again offer their unique art-making opportunity at Burning Man.

We believe that camps like Camp Luminos, and the interactivity they provide, are the heart and soul of the Burning Man experience, and we are thankful to our donors and volunteers for helping us support them.

Read more about Camp Luminos in a recent Burning Man Journal post. Congratulations again to Starchild and his camp on their grant!

Our all-volunteer Grant Committee is wrapping up its work for 2021 after selecting the first three recipients of our inaugural Burner Network Camp Honoraria, and we would just like to say a heartfelt THANK YOU to them for their many hours of hard work.

Interested in joining our Grant Committee for 2022? Please click here to volunteer!

The 2021 Grant Committee is:

Lesley Stein

Committee Member

Lesley has been a Theme Camp Organizer of 3SP (Third Space Place) since 2015 and has been burning since 2012.  She’s a volunteer with Burning Man’s Camp Support team and has also volunteered with Burning Man’s External Relations Team.  She loves the endless possibilities, creativity, and escapades that occur when seeing Black Rock City come to life.  In the default world, Lesley lives in Washington, D.C., where she works as an attorney/public servant.

Sara “RedBirdBean” Pugh

Committee Member

RedBirdBean been burning since 2018 and serves as part of the leadership team of the Land of Monkey theme camp. She has volunteered extensively with virtual burns and as part of the leadership team of the Virtual Events Support Team (VEST). In the default world, RedBirdBean works as a professional grant writer and has 20 years of experience in the non-profit sector.

Arturs Reirs

Committee Member

Arturs been burning since 2016 as part of St Squishy’s giant adult ball-pit camp and as an independent camper. Loves being part of open playa art projects, playing music and generally contributing to the great communal camp vibe. Fun fact: Arturs has never stepped foot on any mutant vehicle!

Deicy “D-Rex” and Andrew “Sandor” Brown

Committee Chairs

This married couple has been burning together since 2016. Together, they have led the Houpla theme camp and its year-round efforts in Houston since 2017. Both D-Rex and Sandor are volunteers with Burning Man’s Camp Support team, with Sandor also serving on the Camp Support Council. They are passionate about helping new people attend Burning Man and acculturating them to burner culture.