Girolamo Savonarola (September 1452 – 23 May 1498) was an Italian Dominican friar and preacher active Renaissance Florence whose prophetic and apocalyptic visions led to the mass incineration of secular art in the "Bonfire of the Vanities," and the overthrow of the ruling Medici family. After defying the Vatican, he himself was burned at the stake, and the Medicis returned to power in 1512.
Scott Kelley is full-time nerd, part-time geek who has been hacking stuff since 5th grade. After getting degrees in math and physics, he has worked on a range of projects from top secret death machines to children’s toys to observatories. He currently spends a lot of time worrying about how you might kill yourself on playa.
I'm a DJ, MC, poet, civil rights lawyer, and grassroots organizer. I've recorded an album, a rack of spoken word and music videos, and some DJ sets. During the day, I help lead one national civil liberties organization and work for another as Director of Grassroots Advocacy. Much of my writing examines corruption across the national security, intelligence, police & prison industrial complex, though I also write poems and song lyrics. I've been a Burner since 2003.
Follow along with me on my adventures as Black Rock City returns to dust. I run around with a camera and talk to people. Check out my Burning Man Vlogs here.
As the program coordinator for Burners Without Borders, Shawn helps facilitate socially innovative projects through BWB’s initiatives, grants and chapter network. Before joining the Burning Man staff, Shawn lived around the world for a number of years working and volunteering for community development nonprofits including building his own school for youth who live in the train stations of Calcutta, India. Burning since 2011, he’s helped bring art to the playa every year and was on the first Ma’Patz (DPW) crew for Midburn. From the SF Bay with a BA in cultural anthropology, he’s excited to help facilitate and extend Burning Man culture globally.
Simeone Scaramozzino started traveling across different realms of consciousness and wisdom at a very early age. Since then, his journey of exploration has been about opening inter-dimensional portals through immersive art by interweaving ancient and modern tech for human transformation and expansion. Our community’s values and orientation to co-creation have been quintessential in this path of expression and transcendence. Maven went solo to her first Burn, found a camp where she served coffee and beignets, held the space as a Temple Guardian, and danced from dusk ‘til dawn on the top of the Mayan Warrior. Now she wears a VR headset or is glued to her multiple screens as she lends some help to the Virtual Burn communications team.
Sophia Swire is an award-winning social entrepreneur and gender-lens investor. A creative innovator with a track record as a thought leader and change-maker, she makes films in her spare time. She is the producer of Burning Man: Art on Fire, a 90-minute documentary film on the struggles and triumphs of the artists and makers behind the annual event. She is in stealth mode with a major new investment platform which will back 'jedi women' changing the world.
spec is an Art Management Specialist with Burning Man Project's Art team. In this role, she administers the Honoraria and Temple grant programs, acts as a liaison for selected art projects, manages the ARTerians, and does placement for all art projects. Her superpower is the ability to work through the inherent conflict between the creative process, while executing the organization and strategy required to complete a project.
Stephanie Kohler is a writer, musician, and teacher based out of Atlanta, GA. She believes that playa magic is everywhere. More info on her website.