“Our only power is the power to inspire.” – Ben Davis, Illuminate
Increasingly, bringing art to Black Rock City is just the beginning. From there, Burning Man’s desert-born installations journey far and wide, rising in public spaces, gardens, and at cultural events everywhere. As they travel and bring delight to new audiences, these artworks are physical manifestations of the Burning Man global cultural movement, a connective force that is impacting the world through innovation and participatory creativity.
Now you can follow the journeys of several of these art crews in a new short film. Profiles in Dust, an all-volunteer team of documentary filmmakers, covered these artists over two years as they installed their work in Black Rock City, and then again in Reno and San Francisco. The documentary that resulted, “Art into the World,” launches today, and you can watch it here. Be sure to keep reading to learn about the crew, and what it took to create this film.
In 2010 Terry Pratt was getting his cameras tagged at Media Mecca in Black Rock City when the late, great Tom Laporte made an interesting proposal. Would Terry be interested in producing some documentaries for Burning Man… on big art and artists?
A director of photography by trade, Terry specializes in shooting long-form documentaries. He’d been going to Black Rock City since 2005, and was ready for a new Burning Man experience. He gathered a team — his wife Noelle Charles and ace editor JK Realms, followed by two more camera operators, Ariel Bennaroch and Shriyantha Wimalasekera.
Profiles in Dust has been creating documentaries on Burning Man ever since.
Their latest production, “Art into the World,” is the culmination of many stories and moving parts. “This one in particular did take a lot of time and effort,” Terry says, “a lot of trips in the last two years.” It began with a conversation while he was driving to Gerlach to shoot part of another documentary. What if he followed art as it traveled into the world?
“I like the idea of Burning Man leaving the shores of the Black Rock Desert and going out into the world,” Terry mused. If you can get that art into the world and let other people see it, I think that’s pretty amazing. And now there are people making the effort to help artists — like Ben Davis from Illuminate the Arts in San Francisco — who took it upon themselves to say ‘Hey, there’s a lot of art coming out. Let’s help people find places for it to go.’”
“Someone had told me about Burning Man art going into Reno,” Terry continued. Indeed, a hotelier was planning to install several Black Rock City artworks at a resort. “Noelle and I came to Reno and ended up filming at the J Resort; they had bought six pieces of Burning Man art. We spent about a week filming that, interviewing the artists, the owner of the resort and the mayor of Reno.”
Also featured in the documentary is the epic “Naga and the Captainess” by Cjay Roughgarden, Jacquelyn Scott, and Stephanie Shipman, a massive sea dragon installed on playa in 2024, then brought to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park in July 2025. “They hadn’t even started constructing Naga and they already knew where they wanted to go with it. It was this flow… now we can follow them, we can film them making it, out on the playa and then putting it up in the park.”
As with all things Burning Man, “It took a bit longer than we had planned. It took about a year and a half for that whole process to work out. But we did it. We followed the whole thing. I went up to Oakland twice to film them building, and then of course we filmed them putting it up and people enjoying it.”
The expansion of Black Rock City art in the world is changing how artists build and design their work. Now some artists plan their work to accommodate the rigorous demands of public installation. “Let’s not think about this just going to Burning Man, but build it with products that can withstand time and abuse,” Terry added.
Reno is leading the way in its approach to illuminating its public space with art. Burning Man has been pivotal in this transformation. “Reno has a huge artist community, and the city itself has really embraced art, not just Burning Man art…” Terry concluded. “They’re literally paying to have art made specific for their city. So other cities are starting to take note.”
What’s next for Profiles in Dust? Terry and crew have been immersed in creating a multi-year documentary about Black Rock City’s Department of Public Works. Watch the “Out of Nothing” trailer here. And keep an eye out for that full feature in the near future.
Cover image: Drone shot of visitors gathered at “Naga & the Captainess” by Cjay Roughgarden, Jacquelyn Scott, and Stephanie Shipman, in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, 2025 (Photo by Peter Platzgummer)
