ARTery (Artist Services)

The ARTery is the on-playa home of the Burning Man Art Department, and the check-in and service center in Black Rock City for artists, as well as a hub of information about Burning Man art.

The ARTery is located at Esplanade & 6:30 and is open one week before the event begins through event closure every day from 9am-6pm.

The ARTery Volunteer Teams

ARTerian Volunteers (Photo by David Hill)

ARTerians

This team of volunteers facilitates artist check-in and placement of art on the playa during the Burning Man event. As part of the check-in process, the ARTerians help ensure that artists understand the importance of several essential steps, such as adequately lighting their artwork at night, protecting their art against theft, and confirming a Leave No Trace (LNT) cleanup plan. Once an artist has checked in, ARTerians reveal their art placement location and escort them to that location on the open playa or plazas. 

The ARTerians also offer an Art Discovery Program, a wide range of experiences, from bicycle tours to self-guided art tours for participants to interact with and explore the art. ARTerians also support the hosting efforts for artist appreciation events on playa.

Art Support Services

The Art Support Services (ASS) team works with artists to support them during the construction of their art projects on the playa. Serving as a liaison with other Burning Man departments such as Heavy Equipment (HEaT), WaterWorks, DPW and Petrol, ASS helps artists streamline the process of installing art, with the aim of making it as safe as possible.

Pre-playa, ASS communicates with artists to assess their resource needs and the safety of their large, interactive artworks. On playa, the ASS team relays artists’ service requests and tracks all provided Burning Man services as they relate to art project implementation, installation and clean up — from initial point of contact through final check-out. ASS can be found at the “ASS Central” desk at the ARTery, or in roving squads visiting artists at their build sites on playa.

Fire Art Safety Team

The Fire Art Safety Team (FAST) assists artists in creating and exhibiting fire art safely. Made up of fire safety personnel and industry professionals, FAST provides experienced support, assisting artists in the safe execution of open fire, flame effects, and/or pyrotechnics in art installations, theme camps and mutant vehicles. FAST inspects artworks incorporating fire and issues the appropriate burn license(s) once the artwork has been approved.

There are two kinds of FAST personnel: 1) FAST artist liaisons work with artists and their fire safety liaisons during the pre-event evaluation process; and 2) FAST Leads oversee any burns and/or pyrotechnic displays during the event.

Eyes on Art

The Eyes on Art (EoA) team surveys art projects across the open playa at night to identify potential art-related safety issues, such as unlit or damaged artworks, unsecured construction sites, and other hazards such as exposed rebar. EoA maintains a real-time, radio-dispatched response team that monitors playa art each night of build week and the event from 9PM to 4AM. With a particular emphasis on sharing best practices for lighting your art installation, they strive to keep art, and the people experiencing the art, safe.

EoA coordinates with many of Black Rock City’s teams including ASS, FAST, Black Rock Rangers, DPW, and HEaT.

ARTery Operations and Facilities

ARTery Ops is our behind-the-scenes, get-things-done, build and problem solve, create-order-from-chaos team, focusing on the ARTery facility itself. Members of this team are responsible for coordinating and maintaining all aspects of the physical ARTery space.

Want to Be an ARTery Volunteer?

Interested in joining us to support artists in Black Rock City? We receive volunteer questionnaire submissions year round, and actively recruit new volunteers in April and May from those submissions and then meet regularly in the months leading up to the event.

Benefits

  • Gaining insight into the art of Burning Man—early insider’s knowledge of what is being created.
  • Working with artists, learning about their process, inspiration, and passions.
  • Helping support the art of Black Rock City—handling the on-playa placement of artworks, sharing information with participants, and enjoying interactions with folks who recognize Burning Man as a premier art event.
  • Belonging to a community, having fun, and making new friends. ARTery volunteers are a close group of dedicated volunteers within the larger organization

Requirements:

  • You must have attended Burning Man at least once in order to join the team
  • We request regular attendance (via Zoom) at the monthly ARTerian meetings held on the second Tuesday of every month from April through August, with a debrief in October
  • A minimum of three 4.5- to 5-hour shifts during the event

To apply to join the team, please fill out the Volunteer Questionnaire and select Art as your preferred area of interest. The best time to apply is from September through early April. We aim to reach out in the spring to potential volunteers who have submitted the Volunteer Questionnaire anytime from the previous April through early April of the current year. We will send an Expression of Interest form in mid-April so we can learn more about your interests, skills, experience, and availability. By late May we have finalized our volunteer team for the event.

Have a question about the Art Department? Send us a message via the Contact Form.