Leo Villareal is a pioneering light artist, bringing teams and tech together to activate buildings, bridges, and bastions. He started Burning in 1994, founded Disorient camp, and has been to every Burn since.

Join Leo sharing his journey from crafting a single beacon for his tent to leading monumental art projects that reshaped skylines. He illuminated the Bay Bridge in San Francisco, the historic bridges over the River Thames in London, and projects everywhere from Washington DC to Iowa, from NYC to Tokyo.

Leo and Stuart discuss how the open-source innovation of Black Rock City impacts the default world.

Leo shares his process for conjuring tech, from coding sequences, to customizing LED fixtures.

He encourages artists to engage with their communities outside of their comfort zones.

Plus, he shares his way of being a lifelong learner, and tells stories of the convening power of photons as an artistic medium, as a digital campfire for all.

Hear him flip the switch, and stay until the brilliant end.

villareal.net/bio

villareal.net/urban-scale-artworks

burningman.org/about/board-of-directors/#LeoVillareal

disorient.info

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Thunderdome has been part of Black Rock City for 25 years. Marisa Winter has led it for most of that time. One need not experience it to benefit from the wisdom of a high-profile, high-intensity theme camp’s insights.

Hear Marisa and Stuart talk through the leadership structure and community practices that result in the Thunderdome's chaotic harmony of performance, showmanship, and cathartic “consensual violence.” Marisa shares insights gleaned from decades of theme camp operation. Such insights include:

· Letting people make non-permanent mistakes allows them to own the lessons

· Prioritizing community is never the wrong answer

· Making hard decisions ASAP attracts quality people

· How to schedule your crying day!

Listen in on their laughter, and tolerate the cringe stories that prove Thunderdome is not cosplay, and you will be rewarded with the inspiration and institutional knowledge of the infamous Death Guild Thunderdome.

www.divamarisa.com

www.deathguildthunderdome.com

journal.burningman.org/author/diva-marisa

playaevents.burningman.org/2024/playa_event/48007

https://burningman.org/programs/philosophical-center

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Most people in Black Rock City live together in placed camps, aka theme camps, the most unique aspect of this unique event. BRC has 1200 camps.

At the intersection of Communal Effort, Self-Expression, and Immediacy, theme camps gift a uniquely decommodified ‘third place’ of offerings and ambiance.

At this annual symposium, staff and volunteers share how they gift their interactive camps to participants. There’s an art and a science to it. These highlights are about the art of it.

• Bryant Tan (aka Level Placerman): head of Placement
• Andie Grace: Producer in the Philosophical Center
• Charlie Dolman: Director of Event Operations
• DA (aka Dominic Tinio): Environmental Restoration Manager
• Harley K Dubois: Founder & Chief Cultural Officer
• Stuart Mangrum: Director of the Philosophical Center

and a keen crew of Placement Team volunteers

• Bravo
• Cosmic
• Governess
• Hepkitten
• Huntress
• KGB
• Razzmatazz

Hear how it started, how it’s going, and how Burners create these unique and interactive passion projects.

Camps and Placement | Burning Man

Placement: About Us & Volunteering

Camp Support Team | Burning Man

De-bureaucratizing Your Burn (Burning Man LIVE 2025)

Charlie Dolman · The Dust is in the Details (Burning Man LIVE 2022)

Dark Angel of Black Rock & Restoration Destiny (Burning Man LIVE 2020)

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Solar power is simple now, thanks in part to Burners who gift the power of the sun. The Burners in this episode also gift steamed rolls with savory fillings, called bao — so much delicious bao.

The theme camp “Bao Chicka Wow Wow” has been a part of Black Rock City for a decade. Its campmates share the prosperity of bao with artist groups, volunteer teams, and participants lucky enough to find their camp or their pop-up “restaurant row,” all powered by custom solar kits.

David Hau (Chairman Bao), Marcus De Paula (Next Level), and their campmates also refined their solar systems to power a charging station for EVs and e-Mutant Vehicles. They share their learnings with neighboring camps, the Temple Builders Guild, and us right here in this episode.

This is how to wean off gas generators, or bring more power to your offerings at BRC, your Regional event, your home, or even the collapse of civilized civilization.

This conversation is lively and informative. It’s a feel-good story set for foodies and those of us growing into gifting and solar energy.

BaoChickaWowWow.com

GoGridSystems.com

Burning Man 2025: Tomorrow Today

Burning Man Inspires Sustainable Solutions Worldwide (Burning Man Journal)

Net Zero Black Rock City 2022

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Explore the magic monuments of Black Rock City 2025.

Katie Hazard, Director of Art, leads the selection, placement, and installation of artwork, and she leads Burning Man's art grant selection committees.

The ARTery is in the center of Black Rock City, slightly offset like the human heart. It’s the epicenter of art support for nearly 400 art pieces, from towering sculptures to immersive environments.

Before these art projects are sourced, crafted, and assembled with everything from hot glue to heavy equipment, they are first conceptualized by artists and engineers. Burning Man’s Honoraria project grants 76 of these art projects about half of the funding they need, a total of $1.3 million.

Katie and Stuart explore how to foster accessibility and agency in artist groups. They describe some of the installations coming this summer, from interactive Sphinxes to a sphere of sinks, from a lost troll of sustainability to a fire-spinning pigeon.

Some of the experiences include:

• an inflatable black cloud from Ukraine
• an Indigenous deer destined for ceremonial land
• an Afrofuturist pillar with an ancient modern secret
• a screaming booth that displays visual reactions to sound
• a woman with a merry-go-round crown, jump rope dreadlocks, and swing earrings

Listen in on this sonic journey of how Burner art is co-created and curated, and how BRC’s surreal skyline is taking shape.

Introducing 2025 BRC Honoraria Art (Burning Man Journal)

Black Rock City Honoraria Program

ARTery (Art Services)

The ARTery Volunteer Teams

Katie Hazard (Burning Man Journal)

2025 Art Theme: Tomorrow Today

Burning Man Art Installation Archive

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Legend whispers of a time when Burning Man was a lawless Eden, a fiery playground of unbridled do-ocracy; no rules, just pure creative chaos. But as Black Rock City has grown into a thriving metropolis, so has the need for structure. We've gone from jokey forms for an ‘artistic license’ to complex permit obligations. We’ve gone from giving ourselves permission to taking on a system that can feel overwhelming.

How can we better balance radical self-expression with the necessities of a city? How can we purge bureaucracy, or are all those old rules essential for safety and sustainability?

This episode delves into the "agonizing reappraisal" within the Burning Man Project, a movement to streamline processes and discard red tape.

Stuart explores the dusty trail from Black Rock City's anarchic origins to the sign marked 2025. He talks with Louder Charlie, the Operations Director of the whole place. He also talks with Chef Juke of the DMV Council, and Level Placerman, Manager of the Placement team.

Here’s a sneak peek behind the scenesters who are preserving the unique magic while navigating the complexities of growth, and how they ensure that the spirit of creation remains accessible to all.

Is it possible to balance the wild heart of Burner culture and the grown-up practices of a city? We’re about to find out.

The Camp Symposium - March 22, 2025

Camps and Placement

The Department of Mutant Vehicles

2025 Ticket Info

The 10 Principles

Bureaucracy (Burning Man Journal)

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Mutant vehicles! Theme camps! Art experiences! It all emanates from the community… overlapping circles of people who are everywhere between being newcomers and seasoned, local and global, young and old.

Andie Grace talks with next-gen Burners Taylor Andrews, Kat Ebert, Mani Senthil, and Whitney Wilhelmy about how to find your crew like you never thought possible.

They break down barriers and clear pathways through an initiative called “Rising Sparks” which demystifies BRC and Regional events, and guides Burners to get more from the magic.

They explore the art of participation:

• seeing the sweet spot between being unmoored and overdoing it
• balancing of survival and self-expression
• finding fresh takes on mentorship

Hear how they claim their place and shape the future.

"Rising Sparks is a grassroots collective fostering intergenerational collaboration, connection, and cultural continuity within Burning Man.

We cultivate community-driven spaces where emerging leaders, newcomers, and seasoned Burners can connect, dream big, and contribute to the future of Burning Man—both within Black Rock City and globally.

Our mission is to inspire participation, address barriers to entry, and cultivate leadership across generations by providing mentorship, community-driven tools, and creative collaboration opportunities.

We are igniting the next generation of artists, leaders, and changemakers by stewarding an accessible, culturally diverse, and evolving Burning Man culture."

https://linktr.ee/therisingsparks

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Hundreds of people create the temple in Black Rock City. It’s a community intent on creating a work of art that is a space for people to grieve and revive.

For the first few years of Black Rock City we didn't have a temple. Now, people can't imagine living without it. Each year, participants create messages, tributes, and altars for who and what they want to release. The event culminates with the burning of the temple in what organically evolved to be a silent Burn.

Listen to Stuart talk with Miguel Arraiz García, the lead artist for this year’s “Temple of the Deep.” Hear stories about how a temple is built, from crew selection to fundraising, from chances taken to lessons learned. This poetic and playful conversation exemplifies how this year’s temple is already healing.

Miguel says, “We are always looking for the answers above us. I was trying to make something just to look for the answer between us or among us. So it is not that much building a temple, it is more building like a shelter for emotions, a safe space where you can be with people.”

Burning Man Journal: Introducing the 2025 Temple

www.2025temple.com

www.miguelarraiz.com

TempleGuardians.burningman.org

Renaixement: Burning Man 2016

Burning Man Journal: Tomorrow Today

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG