Burning Man Project

Last updated
Burning Man Project
PredecessorBlack Rock City LLC
FormationMay 22, 1997
Headquarters660 Alabama Street, San Francisco, CA
Subsidiaries Black Rock City LLC
Black Rock Arts Foundation
Future Man LLC
Website https://burningman.org/

The Burning Man Project is the organization that annually plans, manages, and builds Burning Man on the dry lake of the Black Rock Desert in northwestern Nevada. The company coordinates the year-round, behind-the-scenes work needed to build and remove a temporary city of 80,000 people. [1]

Contents

Burning Man ticket sales provide a multi million-dollar budget for the organization. These revenues help the organization obtain required permits from the Bureau of Land Management, rent portable toilets and equipment, secure medical, fire, and law enforcement services, and cover other organizational expenses.

History

1986 to 1996

In the first ten years of Burning Man's history, from 1986 to 1996, the annual event was fully anarchical and run largely by the Cacophony Society. Due to an increased need for structure and planning after a tumultuous 1996 year, Burning Man 97 LLC was formed to run next year's event on May 22, 1997. [2] [3]

1997 to 2010

For the first time, the event was run by a legitimate business; rules were implemented, and the Department of Public Works was formed to oversee the task of setting up a city of 10,000 people. Consequently, 1997 was the first year that the city had a planned layout and a map. The intent of the founders was to dissolve and form a new LLC for each event cycle, as evident by the fact that Burning Man 98 LLC was formed on November 24, 1997; [4] this was deemed entirely unsustainable in the business world, however. [5] On February 4, 1999, [6] Black Rock City LLC was formed as an organization to run Burning Man in the long term, then an event of 23,000 people. [7] [8]

On May 8, 2001, [9] The Black Rock Arts Foundation was founded as a separate nonprofit to promote Civic engagement and to help fund Interactive art. [10]

Additionally, Black Rock Solar was formed on May 21, 2008. [11] The organization "promotes environmental stewardship, economic development and energy independence by providing not-for-profit entities, tribes and underserved communities with access to clean energy, education, and job training." [12]

Current Structure of the Burning Man Project BMP Structure.png
Current Structure of the Burning Man Project

Decommodification LLC was formed on November 23, 2010 [13] to prepare for the transition to a nonprofit that would begin the following year.

2011 to 2013

On June 2, 2011, [14] Burning Man Project was formed as a California 501(c)(3) organization. The formation and reorganization was contested by some of the LLC board members, [15] but it carried through.

In the middle of the restructuring, the nonprofit Burners Without Borders was formed on August 21, 2012. [16] They describe themselves as an organization "whose goal is to unlock the creativity of local communities to solve problems that bring about meaningful change." [17] The following year, two LLCs were formed to hold the various property assets of the Burning Man Project. Black Rock City Properties LLC was formed on November 21, 2013, [18] and Gerlach Holdings LLC was formed shortly after on December 19, 2013. [19] Together they hold properties such as the Gerlach Office and the Work Ranch.

On December 27, 2013, [20] Black Rock City LLC was finally made a subsidiary of the new Burning Man Project.

2014 to present

In July 2014, the Black Rock Arts Foundation was made a subsidiary of the Burning Man Project. [21]

On September 6, 2017, [22] Future Man LLC was established to hold the Fly Ranch property after the Burning Man Project acquired it in 2016. [23]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burning Man</span> Annual experimental festival based in Nevada, United States

Burning Man is an event focused on community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance held annually in the western United States. The name of the event comes from its culminating ceremony: the symbolic burning of a large wooden effigy, referred to as the Man, that occurs on the penultimate night of Burning Man, which is the Saturday evening before Labor Day. The event has been located since 1991 at Black Rock City in northwestern Nevada, a temporary city erected in the Black Rock Desert about 100 miles (160 km) north-northeast of Reno. As outlined by Burning Man co-founder Larry Harvey in 2004, the event is guided by ten principles: radical inclusion, gifting, decommodification, radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leaving no trace, participation, and immediacy.

Burning Flipside is an annual effigy burn, display of creative arts, and self-expression of performances staged in Central Texas near Austin. Modeled on and associated with Burning Man, Flipside was the first regional Burning Man event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Rock Desert</span> Northwest Nevada dry lake

The Black Rock Desert is a semi-arid region of lava beds and playa, or alkali flats, situated in the Black Rock Desert–High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area, a silt playa 100 miles (160 km) north of Reno, Nevada that encompasses more than 300,000 acres (120,000 ha) of land and contains more than 120 miles (200 km) of historic trails. It is in the northern Nevada section of the Great Basin with a lakebed that is a dry remnant of Pleistocene Lake Lahontan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerlach, Nevada</span> Census-designated place in Nevada, United States

Gerlach, Nevada is a census-designated place (CDP) in Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The population was 107 at the 2018 American Community Survey. It is part of the Reno–Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area. Prior to 2010, Gerlach was part of the Gerlach–Empire census-designated place. The town of Empire is now a separate CDP. The next nearest town, Nixon, is 60 miles (100 km) to the south on a reservation owned by the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe. The Fly Geyser is located near Gerlach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Empire, Nevada</span> Place in Nevada, United States

Empire is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Washoe County, Nevada, with a population estimated at 65 (2021). It is part of the Reno–Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area; before the 2010 census, it was part of the Gerlach–Empire census-designated place. The nearest town, Nixon, is 60 miles (97 km) to the south on a reservation owned by the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Harvey</span> American artist, co-founder of Burning Man

Larry Harvey was an American artist, philanthropist and activist. He was the main co-founder of the Burning Man event, along with his friend Jerry James.

Lawrence Moser "Larry" Breed was a computer scientist, artist and inventor, best known for his involvement in the programming language APL.

Transformus is a regional Burning Man art festival hosted on Marvin's Mountaintop in Masontown, West Virginia. The community forms a temporary city called Mysteria during the third weekend in July which includes art installations, neighborhoods, lively nightlife and camps which offer services to the community. Since 2006 Transformus has distributed over $207,747 in art grants to the community. It remains one of the most art-centric Burner events in the U.S. Transformus celebrates Burning Man's 10 principles of radical inclusion, radical gifting, radical decommodification, radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leaving no trace, participation and immediacy. Transformus also focuses on consent as its 11th principle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fly Geyser</span> Small geothermal geyser in Nevada

Fly Geyser, also known as Fly Ranch Geyser is a small geothermal geyser located on private land in Washoe County, Nevada, about 20 miles (32 km) north of Gerlach. Fly Geyser is located near the edge of Fly Reservoir in the Hualapai Geothermal Flats and is approximately 5 feet (1.5 m) high by 12 feet (3.7 m) wide, counting the mound on which it sits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nevada State Route 447</span> Highway in Nevada

State Route 447 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Nevada. The highway is almost entirely within Washoe County but does for a brief time enter Pershing County, Nevada. The highway connects the town of Gerlach to the remainder of the state via Wadsworth. Though passing through extremely remote and desolate areas of Nevada, the highway has recently gained fame as the primary route to access the Black Rock Desert, the site of the annual Burning Man festival. The state maintained portion ends at Gerlach; however the highway continues as Washoe County Route 447 from Gerlach north to the California state line near Cedarville.

The Black Rock Beacon is newspaper made by and for burners. It was started in 2005 by former staff members of the Black Rock Gazette when that newspaper no longer received funding from the Burning Man LLC. This event is viewed in contrary ways by both parties. While the Burning Man organization claims it and the Gazette staff mutually decided to pursue "separate missions," the Beacon founders feel they were effectively fired.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Law (artist)</span>

John Law is an American artist, culture-jammer, and a primary member of the Cacophony Society and a member of the Suicide Club. He is also a co-founder of Burning Man which evolved out of the spirit of the Cacophony Society when a precursor solstice party was banned from San Francisco's Baker Beach and merged with another Cacophony event on the Black Rock desert in Nevada. Originally from Michigan, Law has lived in San Francisco, California since 1976.

Kiwiburn is a regional Burning Man event celebrating principles such as inclusion, radical self-expression, gifting, participative art and culture.

FIGMENT is an annual participatory arts event that began on Governors Island in New York Harbor, United States in 2007, and has since spread to a number of other cities. The mission of FIGMENT is to provide a forum for community-based participatory art and experience. FIGMENT strives to build community among artists and participants, to foster the participatory arts in New York City, and to demonstrate a vision for the future of Governors Island as an international arts destination. FIGMENT is a community-based event organized and run by volunteers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burners Without Borders</span> Non-profit organization

Burners Without Borders (BWB) is a community-led NGO which initiates civic works projects and disaster relief in local communities around the globe.

Mark Grieve is an American contemporary artist. He practices in a variety of media including found objects and large metal sculpture as well as site-specific installations, performance, and public art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BMIR</span> Radio station in Nevada, USA

BMIR 94.5 FM is the unlicensed community radio station for Burning Man, an event held annually in Black Rock Desert, Nevada. BMIR begins broadcasting on 94.5 FM on the playa in the week leading up to Burning Man. Currently, the station hosts more than 40 DJs that produce the programming played over the course of the event.

Dana Harrison was an American business professional, arts community and non-profit organizer, producer, director and entrepreneur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dooby Lane</span>

Dooby Lane is a folk art installation located near Gerlach, Nevada in the Black Rock Desert. Dooby Lane consists of a series of art installations that include aphorisms and the names of local residents carved in to stones. Larger installations such as "Ground Zero", Elvis, Imagination Station – Desert Broadcasting System are also present.

References

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  3. "BURNING MAN 97, LLC – Nevada Companies Directory" . Retrieved 2020-02-10.
  4. "BURNING MAN 98, LLC – Nevada Companies Directory" . Retrieved 2020-02-10.
  5. "1997 Event Archive". Burning Man. Retrieved 2020-02-10.
  6. "BLACK ROCK CITY LLC – Nevada Companies Directory" . Retrieved 2020-02-10.
  7. "Burning Man Timeline - 1999". burningman.org. Retrieved 2020-02-10.
  8. "Original forms of LLC". CA Secretary of State. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  9. "BLACK ROCK ARTS FOUNDATION". opencorporates.com. Archived from the original on 2021-08-03. Retrieved 2020-02-10.
  10. "About Black Rock Arts | Black Rock Arts Foundation". blackrockarts.org. Retrieved 2020-02-10.
  11. "BLACK ROCK SOLAR". opencorporates.com. Archived from the original on 2021-08-03. Retrieved 2020-02-10.
  12. "Black Rock Solar". Burning Man. Retrieved 2020-02-10.
  13. "DECOMMODIFICATION LLC". opencorporates.com. Archived from the original on 2021-08-03. Retrieved 2020-02-10.
  14. "BURNING MAN PROJECT". opencorporates.com. Archived from the original on 2020-02-21. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  15. "Man on the move". San Francisco Bay Guardian Archive 1966–2014. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  16. "BURNERS WITHOUT BORDERS". opencorporates.com. Archived from the original on 2020-02-21. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  17. "Mission". Burners Without Borders. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  18. "BLACK ROCK CITY PROPERTIES LLC". opencorporates.com. Archived from the original on 2020-02-21. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  19. "GERLACH HOLDINGS LLC". opencorporates.com. Archived from the original on 2020-02-21. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  20. "Burning Man Transitions to Non-Profit Organization". Burning Man Journal. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  21. "Burning Man's Nonprofit Financial Information Released". Burning Man Journal. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  22. "FUTURE MAN LLC". opencorporates.com. Archived from the original on 2020-02-21. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  23. "We Bought Fly Ranch". Burning Man Journal. Retrieved 2020-02-21.

Further reading