John Valentino lives in New Orleans, Louisiana, and is the Art Discovery Manager for the Burning Man Art Department. He first came to Burning Man 2012 as part of the New Orleans CORE project Baby Brulé. In 2013 he was the lead artist for the CORE project, Alter of the Wetlands, and led the New Orleans Pavilion in the 2014 Souk. In 2015 he was awarded an Honorarium for Krewe of the Dusty Playa, an artwork commemorating the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. John is a Professor of New Media and Animation in the Department of Art and Visual Design at Southeastern Louisiana University. Each year, between November and February, he designs and builds the royalty float for the New Orleans Mardi Gras parading organization Krewe du Vieux.
John Marx is a San Francisco-based Lyrical Avant-Garde architect, and a part time student of Absurdity, Paradox, Kindness, and Art. He has a special interest in how we can help reconnect architecture and art to the passions people feel for life. He was invited to participate in the 2017 Burning Man European Leadership summit in Stockholm, which revealed to him how viral Burning Man culture can be, and it inspired him to go forth, helping to “encourage people to embrace community and kindness through participatory art.”
John Curley (that's me) has been Burning since the relatively late date of 2004, and in 2008 I spent the better part of a month on the playa, documenting the building and burning of Black Rock City in words and pictures. I loved it, and I've been doing it ever since.
I was a newspaper person in a previous life, and I spent many years at the San Francisco Chronicle. At the time I left, in 2007, I was the deputy managing editor in charge of Page One and the news sections of the paper. Since then, I've turned a passion for photography into a second career. I shoot for editorial, commercial and private clients. I've also taught a little bit, including two years at UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism and a year at San Francisco State University.
I live on the San Mateo coast, just south of San Francisco in California.
John Briant is a default world ship captain, sailor, mountain biker, spearfisherman, tiny house builder and van-lifer. At-home no bullshit bike repair hack.
Halcyon is a 21-year Burning Man participant and co-founder of Pink Heart camp. He is author of "Love more. Fear less." and producer of the Burning Man short film, "The Pink Path." He's won Webby awards for his over-the-top personal site & his "Love On Demand" video podcast HugNation.com. Halcyon co-founded the San Diego based "1st Saturdays" homeless outreach program based on Burning Man Principles and coaches people how to be radically self expressed in the default world. You can find his full Playa Tips & Tricks series at www.PlayaPrinciples.com
Joel Balsam is based in Montréal, Canada, and has been to Black Rock City on three life-affirming and simultaneously life-challenging occasions. When he’s not roaming the playa meeting everyone he can, or attending Regional burns, he’s writing about culture and travel for publications such as National Geographic, TIME, BBC, and Lonely Planet.
As Burning Man's Civic Arts Coordinator, Joe develops tools, engagement opportunities, and artist interfaces that extend Burning Man culture and practice from playa to public spaces. Joe's first year on playa was 2010. Since then he has been a part of numerous Theme Camps, performance groups, and other exercises in desert weirdness.
As a core member of Burning Man's Communications Team, Jim is responsible for event-related communications, serves as one of Burning Man’s spokespersons, oversees Burning Man Information Radio and the webcast, and is a representative on the Unified Command. He has attended the event annually since 1996 and was given the playa name “ronjon” in 1997 when he was handed a radio and put in charge of the gate.
Jim was a reporter for a dozen years, including four years in Washington, D.C. covering Congress, the Pentagon and NASA. He has more than 20 years experience in agency and corporate public relations. In his free time he oversees a team campaigning a ’69 VW Beetle in off road races, including the Baja 1000, and is writing a book on the history of the Mint 400.
Jessi Sprocket is resident artist at The Generator. She makes large scale art for Burning Man and beyond including The Space Whale and The Pier. She loves working in community and inspiring others to build their dreams.
People have often described Jessica Hobbs as someone trying to lead a compulsively artistic life, which is more or less true. She started off her adventure in a small Sierra Foothill town and eventually meandered her way to the San Francisco Bay Area. Along the way Jess has worn many hats; running and creating community art programs, counseling teenagers, curating, exhibiting, designing, photographing and creating monumental interactive art experiences. She is an MFA graduate from the San Francisco Art Institute and has been wandering and creating in the dust fest for well over a decade.
Collaboration is her magic ingredient for success in work, community, art and life. This can be seen through her founding and directing work with the Flux Foundation and All Power Labs.