Kickstarter

A Communal Art Grant through Food http://www.feedtheartists.net Feed the Artists creates an opportunity for the Burning Man community, as represented by its theme camps, to support the artists who make Burning Man so special by granting them the gift of nourishment, camaraderie, support, and appreciation.

Our primary objectives are: 1. To support Burning Man’s artists 2. To create healthy and meaningful interactions between artists and theme camps that promote bonding, collaboration and the sharing of resources 3. To elevate the role of food on the playa to an art form

...and to do these things in such a way that it becomes a self-sustaining, self-perpetuating tradition at Burning Man, the regionals, and beyond.

We seek to advance a new meme at Burning Man, which exemplifies what we call “Radical Collaboration” so that theme camps, with the support of Feed the Artists, take it upon themselves to invite artists and their crews to join them for dinner.

Although we are initially focused on setup week, when the artists need the most support, we hope to spread the program into burn week, so that this sort of artist/theme camp collaboration becomes commonplace throughout the event. In so doing, we hope to model the principles of Gifting, Immediacy, Civic Responsibility, and Communal Effort, and create an archetype through the simple gift of a nourishing, heartfelt meal; an archetype through which:

• The Burning Man community’s existing resources are leveraged to provide support to artists

• Artists and theme camp leaders who are new (or not so new) to Burning Man have opportunities to meet and interact with more experienced burners in a casual, nurturing environment that promotes collaboration and sharing of resources

• Theme camps and their members have an opportunity to really get to know some of Burning Man’s artists and learn the detail, history, and motivations behind the artists’ works

• Community support for Burning Man’s artists will evolve to become more direct and participatory. An ideavirus will spread, and those camps that arrive early recognize the need to think beyond their own borders and needs and actively embrace the concept of providing for the artists who need it; civic responsibility in its purest form.

• Artists are energized and therefore better able to focus primarily on their work, get their installations done on time, and not be so burned out by the process that they are unable to enjoy the fruits of their labor. We accomplish this in two ways:

FIRST, we hope to produce 4 amazing dinners during setup week where we feed over 500 artists. But these are not normal dinners on the playa! With gourmet food cooked by volunteer professional chefs and incredible entertainment...

For instance, last year, Feed the Artists brought in a nationally-known ‘close-up’ magician to circulate around the dinners, a sky crane that lifted small groups of guests, with champagne, 70 feet in the air to enjoy an unbelievable view of BRC at dusk, live music, and our soon to be famous “mystery tent,” which will have to be experienced to be believed, to name only a few of the elements that make our dinners a 'spectaular spectacular'

Not to mention our incredible group of over 69 dedicated volunteers working the front of the house and behind the scenes... these are performance art spectacles to the highest degree... all served with healthy portions of delicious, gourmet food.

Everything we produce, from the food to the frolicking entertainment, is a deep and heartfelt expression of appreciation for the artists and all the beautiful people who are our guests.

But this is not our main purpose. Our dinners are meant to serve as an example to all the other Theme Camps of what is possible. If we can serve THAT kind of food, in THAT kind of environment, to THAT many people, how hard would it be for them to invite an artist group of 5-10 people over for dinner?

SECOND, we facilitate theme camps in hosting artists by posting the artists’ information on our website, i.e. how many people they will have on the playa each night and whether they have any dietary restrictions. Then we spend countless hours recruiting theme camps to check that listing and sign up to feed artists. Once they do, we handle all the invitations and confirmations, re-confirm with both groups, and once we’re on playa, visit each artist group and theme camp in the program to make sure everything is still a go.

THIS is our raison d’etre. THIS is why we do what we do, and in 2009, we did it beyond anyone’s wildest imagination, because in addition to all the people WE fed, we organized and facilitated the feeding of an additional 650+ artists by over 35 Theme Camps who stepped up and invited artists to dinners held simultaneous to our own.

That means that in 2009, FtA was responsible for the offering of over 1000 meals to BRC’s artists, during setup week!!!!! 1000 meals…, Can you imagine the lasting friendships and sense of community that developed throughout BRC as a result of this?

And that’s really the key to our vision. It's not just about providing food to artists. It’s about nourishing the bodies, minds, and souls of ALL the programs participants, and by extension, the entire Burning Man community.

This year, we want to double what we did last year by recruiting at least 50 theme camps to participate and feed at least one meal to almost 100 different artists groups representing almost 2000 artists.

But we can only do that if we can raise the necessary funds.

And once we have achieved this goal at Burning Man, we will spread this concept throughout the world, first through the BM regional network, and then beyond so that eventually, we are facilitating Feed the __________ (fill in the blank, Teachers, Firefighters, Disaster Relief Workers, etc.) collaborations between groups in communities all across the globe and a largely forgotten expression of appreciation and gratitude will have been reintroduced to the world.

We are, therefore, seeking to raise money to fund our on-playa dinners this year, including costs associated with food and beverage, transportation, refrigeration, infrastructure & logistics, waste disposal, and entertainment.

Check out our SF Bay Area events: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Feed-The-Artists/353762805543?v=app_6009294086 http://www.feedtheartists.net http://www.facebook.com/pages/Feed-The-Artists/353762805543