2022 Artist and Performers Grant for BRC: Waking Dreams

We have participated with artists in the past as detailed below through our own special events that were able to help raise contributions to art in 2017 and 2018. This new formalized process along with our vision for the future to help make the difficult journey to these events easier and accessible to more artists and performers.

2022 MOONBOW PRIDE AWARD: In memory of Mario Cisneros and Moonbow Camp who first brought Pride Parades to Burning Man. He also started the Monday Night Queer Welcomeing party that is carried on still through the Down Low Club. Mario was an early pioneer in the way queer theme camps gave back to the community of Burning Man by bringing the best of our queer culture to the masses.

Moonbow Pride Award Theme: Art/Performance centering on a major period of a person’s life like coming out, transitioning, or major event conveyed through sound or image and preferably an interactive element.

2022 RIDE THE RAINBOW AWARD: Focusing on Radical Inclusion, Diversity and Equity (RIDE) in our community. This is inspired by the fantastic efforts of many people in our community to be inclusive and inspire future generations in our Community and Culture Building.

Ride the Rainbow award is specifically focused on RIDE initiatives expressing inclusivity, diversity and equity programs through art, performance or education.

2022 Applications opened Thursday 6/9 and closed 6/23/22: Announcements 7/15/2022

2022: Grant Awards and Nominees

	Gender Blender: Moonbow Pride Award Gender Blender will host the epic Gender Blender gender f*ckery variety show designed to give everyone the opportunity to shine. This will be a variety show like none other. We encourage participation from folks who have never felt safe to perform before. We highlight LGBTQIA artists, upcoming visionaries, performers, and those who have always wanted to perform but have never before. We create a brave space for all people to shine. Gender Blender will also host a workshop dedicated to JEDI learnings and invite participants from all over playa to attend. We will unpack real issues that occur on and off playa and pave the way for a more inclusive future. - Ariel Vegosen

Gender Blender: Moonbow Pride Award

Gender Blender will host the epic Gender Blender gender f*ckery variety show designed to give everyone the opportunity to shine. This will be a variety show like none other. We encourage participation from folks who have never felt safe to perform before. We highlight LGBTQIA artists, upcoming visionaries, performers, and those who have always wanted to perform but have never before. We create a brave space for all people to shine. Gender Blender will also host a workshop dedicated to JEDI learnings and invite participants from all over playa to attend. We will unpack real issues that occur on and off playa and pave the way for a more inclusive future.

- Ariel Vegosen

	Midnight Outpost: RIDE Award We will be serving 1,000 handmade wontons with egg noodles and soup at an undisclosed location in Deep Playa Wednesday-Friday. The "secret" location is intended to create a space for random encounters which in our experience has made for the most magical moments. The food will be handmade in advance in Seattle and will be kept frozen using only solar energy during the Burn. We may plan to serve a Hong Kong style breakfast as well, which would be toast with condensed milk and yuanyang (coffee with black tea and evaporated milk). To round it off, we studied vintage menus of Hong Kong restaurants and designed our own custom menu. - Pete Nguyen

Midnight Outpost: RIDE Award

We will be serving 1,000 handmade wontons with egg noodles and soup at an undisclosed location in Deep Playa Wednesday-Friday. The "secret" location is intended to create a space for random encounters which in our experience has made for the most magical moments. The food will be handmade in advance in Seattle and will be kept frozen using only solar energy during the Burn. We may plan to serve a Hong Kong style breakfast as well, which would be toast with condensed milk and yuanyang (coffee with black tea and evaporated milk). To round it off, we studied vintage menus of Hong Kong restaurants and designed our own custom menu.

- Pete Nguyen

Queerburners Note: We had another RIDE winner who had to turn down an award, but we turned right around and parced it to another project we loved. We donated the $500 award to The Afterlife.

	Special Award / Donation: The Afterlife The Afterlife is a visually stunning fluorescent & LED art installation that glows in the dark by night and pops neon day-glo by day The Afterlife is an ethereal and whimsical dreamland beyond our lifetime. A portal of transition between living and dead Still accepting donations on Kickstarter - Adrian Tay (Blitzy)

Special Award / Donation: The Afterlife

The Afterlife is a visually stunning fluorescent & LED art installation that glows in the dark by night and pops neon day-glo by day The Afterlife is an ethereal and whimsical dreamland beyond our lifetime. A portal of transition between living and dead

Still accepting donations on Kickstarter

- Adrian Tay (Blitzy)

We received 7 applicants this year. It was our innaugural year for a grants program where in previous years we did a partnership project together like ALL OF US that helped to raise funds with the artist participation. We are very grateful to queer artists who are bringing their voices to the playa.

Dreaming Under A Desert Sky by Mary Drose and Tomorrowlamb Camp - Project info
Seven Senses Spa by Eric Borosmo and Tomorrowlamb Camp - Project Info
QueerDome by Justin Natoli - Project Info
Taking Up Space (Winner RIDE Award who had to decline)

2018: Singularity

It was an absolute pleasure to partner with Rebekah and her team with Singularity. They brought a version of the piece to All Of Us 2018 and see it on playa that year in it's full form. It was tremendous to see her success and the opulence of her vision. Rebekah was well known by that time for her 2013 piece called the Church Trap. Pieces of that remain today at the Burning Man organization offices in San Francisco.

	Singularity was an interactive installation art piece that was not only about moments in time, but was also about recognizing how events change the course of our lives. This piece can be interpreted in different ways but the main focus attempts to explore how traumatic events are carried with us for the rest of our lives. Growing up gay in a strict Christian household was the perfect storm for creating trauma in my life as well as serving as inspiration behind this piece. Having the ability and mental health tools to turn my trauma into an interactive art piece allowed for others to open up about their past experiences and connect with one another. Thanks to a generous donation by the All Of Us Event in 2018 we were able to bring Singularity to life before she made her way to Burning Man that same year. I’m grateful for the opportunity to share Singularity with the queer burner community and hope to continue bringing art to the world for all of us to enjoy. - Rebekah Waits

Singularity was an interactive installation art piece that was not only about moments in time, but was also about recognizing how events change the course of our lives. This piece can be interpreted in different ways but the main focus attempts to explore how traumatic events are carried with us for the rest of our lives. Growing up gay in a strict Christian household was the perfect storm for creating trauma in my life as well as serving as inspiration behind this piece. Having the ability and mental health tools to turn my trauma into an interactive art piece allowed for others to open up about their past experiences and connect with one another.

Thanks to a generous donation by the All Of Us Event in 2018 we were able to bring Singularity to life before she made her way to Burning Man that same year. I’m grateful for the opportunity to share Singularity with the queer burner community and hope to continue bringing art to the world for all of us to enjoy.

- Rebekah Waits

2017: The Journey

We were so blessed to have The Journey as our biggest art piece ever to an All Of Us Event by a queer artist. So much so that it can be seen featured on our promotion video by Jeff Shick on our events page. Then, to see the whole piece at Black Rock City in 2017 was truly magical. Dan, Lee and the rest of the team were just amazing and we are grateful they joined us on our journey.

	The Journey, an interactive wood sculpture inspired by our DNA's double-helix, reflects on our journey through life. Utilizing music, lighting and responsive technology, The Journey inspires people to look inward and create experiences for self and community within it's walkable structure. - Dan Reeves

The Journey, an interactive wood sculpture inspired by our DNA's double-helix, reflects on our journey through life. Utilizing music, lighting and responsive technology, The Journey inspires people to look inward and create experiences for self and community within it's walkable structure.

- Dan Reeves