Arts Grants Announced !
NECTR Arts
Hi NECTRines,
Reporting from the NECTRARTs, aka the Arts Grants Committee, on the ‘State of the Arts’.
After a very difficult deliberation process, here are the 2025 supported artworks. The Art Grants Committee acts as a representative for the community and designates funds from ticket sales and donations to support the Effigy, Temple, and other art works that we feel the community would like to see.
For those new to burns, this doesn’t mean that other artworks cannot be displayed. YOU are allowed to bring your art, and unless it has fire components or other safety concerns, no one has to approve or choose your art to bring it to NECTR. Please bring all your arts. Also, please reach out if you need any guidance or help bringing your arts.
2025 Funded Artworks:
Effigy
Awarded $950 and the Moonshot Grant amount of $1800
‘Sparky Stinkbutt’
Born from campfire smoke and chili-fueled legends, Sparky Stinkbutt is a giant skunk who farts fireballs to ward off intruders and tickle the skies.
We are seeking $200 more to fully fund this as proposed.
Temple
Awarded $950
‘Said Well’
Said Well is a massive bottle sculpture; a quiet, shared space for holding what’s been said, unsaid and all that falls in between. Inside, you’re invited to release words you’ve been carrying, grieve messages that never made it and record the words you still hope to hear.
Regular Grants
35 applicants asking for $11,259
14 projects awarded $4,300
‘Iceland 2015’
A light show that recreates the experience of the Aurora Borealis from Iceland 2015
‘Double the Pendulum‘
A towering double pendulum swings wildly in the dark, its arms laced with light, drawing chaotic curves across the night sky.
‘Hot Salty Balls: Digging to the Roots Of It All’
Nectr-Originated hot salty taters are back and digging deep to the root of it all, branching out to see what other root veg people will fall in love with, brined and boiled in salt, seasoning, and a highly saturated amount of love.
‘North East CT Regional High Speed Rail‘
By day, create the scenery for a model train. By night, the train utilizes a bright light to cast the shadows of the scenery on the walls of its enclosure
‘Singing Crystal Flowers‘
We’re going to construct giant flowers with glowing crystal centers as a new addition to Musical Cavern.
‘The Magic Carpet Ride‘
A mini art cart on an electric wheelchair base. The body of the cart is a magic carpet on which participants can lounge while riding or being given rides.
‘The Whispering Willow‘
The Whispering Willow is an illuminated weeping tree where visitors speak into copper tendrils that carry their words to hidden speakers on the opposite side, letting others hear whispers from strangers past. Each branch records the anonymous messages and gently plays them back to future visitors, creating a living, drifting archive of shared secrets, memories, and experiences.
‘Sparklepony Express‘
Physical mail for Burners, by Burners, delivered via Burner
‘OMGWTFog‘
If you want bright, juicy, colorful light 360 degrees around you, strobing at a rate that makes you see colors you can’t name and hallucinatory patterns hanging in a densely fogged liminal space, OMGWTFog is your destination.
‘Clown Hole 2: Deeper Down the Hole‘
The Clown Hole will have a new giant Jack in the Box companion and Clown Hole sign with base improvements to make a deeper tunnel and support more art inside.
‘Bee Together‘
A friendly swarm of bees
‘Pyronica Rides Again!‘
The ever-popular tuned fire organ, now with a third octave and better tuning!
‘Steam Bath Project (SBP)‘
SBP has a long history of bringing the community sauna experience to Burning Man and the regional FireFly burn, dating back to SBP’s first Burning Man in 2004. Steam baths bring community building, rest and relaxation, cleanliness, and immaculate vibes to enrich a burn experience for all who entire the steamy sanctum.
‘Fire Drums‘
IYKYK OG NECTR
SMOL Grants
25 people applicants asking for $964
5 applicants awarded $205
‘Pentagonal Prism of’
‘Cognitive Contraband’
‘Malbela fortunaj’
‘The Small Burn’
This year was unique in the quantity of well-thought-out and aesthetically compelling art grant submissions. Most years there are much easier decision periods where we can quickly weed out proposals that are not fully thought out, or not compellingly described, or unrealistic in the budget. There was even one year where the whole community was in ‘burn out’ and we had so few grant asks that we funded (almost) every submission, even some that would have easily been rejected in other years. This year there were so many good proposals, and an uptick in the dollar amounts people asked for—not surprising as the costs of all materials rose. So please don’t feel sad or bad about your artwork if you were not funded this year.
During the submissions and reviews phase of the art grants, we keep the names and email addresses of applicants hidden. This is so we can blind review each application on its own merits. This can sometimes be challenging, as we are a small community. Perhaps we have seen your artwork at another burn, perhaps we asked you to apply, perhaps you choose to reach out and unblind yourself, perhaps we recognize your art grant style. Still, we do our best to examine the project budget, the originality, and the description, and to make a decision on the artwork, not a decision on you personally. So no sads.
F* Your Burn (with love)
NECTRARTs
Amy Hannum
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "NECTRBurn" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to NECTRegionalBu...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/NECTRegionalBurn/CADmFwZ5bskRPN8mVUueNjJ8qHfDAnPWQpZJPjybTrRu90TnzYQ%40mail.gmail.com.