Hey Fireflies! You know how Firefly is a volunteer-run event and our
principles
<https://www.fireflyartscollective.org/firefly-arts-collective/10-principles/>
include Participation, Civic Responsibility, and Communal Effort--on the
part of everyone who attends? Have you started thinking about how you want
to pitch in to help make Firefly happen? Do you need more information,
maybe want to talk to some people face-to-face to learn more? Now's the
time to get it! The annual Firefly Open House is 5-9pm this Sunday, May
1st, at the Dilboy VFW Post in Davis Square, Somerville.
What is the Open House? It’s an informal meet and greet/volunteer
fair/information-gathering opportunity/excuse for a cash bar!
Who will be there? Members of the Firefly Board, members of the Conduct
Committee, event leads, core leads, and tons of other Firefly participants.
Why should you go? Get to know people, make new friends, catch up with old
friends. Learn about the various cores
<https://www.fireflyartscollective.org/participate/join-a-core/> that work
together to make Firefly happen. Sign up for volunteer shifts on the spot,
or simply start to plan when you're going to fit volunteering into your
time at Firefly. Talk about your theme camp, your art project, things you
plan to gift, the Ten Principles, or... whatever.
Once again for those in the back:
Firefly Open House
5-9pm Sunday, May 1st
Dilboy VFW Post in Davis Square
371 Summer St, Somerville, MA 02144
Free snacks and cash bar on site!
(psst: for more art in your life, check out some of the Somerville Open
Studios <https://www.somervilleopenstudios.org/> before showing up)
1. Firefly Open House THIS SUNDAY!
2. SFTY3rd
3. Burner Exchange Art Grant Submissions DUE TONIGHT
4. Scholarship Ticket deadline lifted, apply now!
5. Submit Firefly Ticket Artwork
6. New Leadership Roles at Sanctuary! Sign up Today!
7. DPW Volunteers, Join The Mailing List
8. Kids' Art Grants
9. "Just the Tip"
----------
1. All Fireflies, Virgins and Veterans - Our annual Open House is this
Sunday. What is the Open House?? It’s an informal meet and greet and kind
of the unofficial start to the Firefly season. Various board members, the
conduct committee, event leads, and core leads will all be on hand to meet
you and help point you in the direction(s) you need to make sure you have
an excellent Firefly. We’ll have information about the various cores that
help make Firefly function as well as ways to sign up for shifts (we all
volunteer for shifts during the event). Come tell us about your theme camp
or your art project! Come ask us what you can do to become more involved.
5-9 PM this Sunday (May 1st) at the Dilboy VFW Post in Davis Square (371
Summer St, Somerville, MA 02144). Come by after Somerville Open Studios!!
https://www.fireflyartscollective.org/news/firefly-open-house/
Hope to see plenty of new and old faces!
----------
2. SFTY3rd
The 3rd annual SFTY3rd will be held on May 13-15 in Scarborough, Maine for
any Firefly that is interested in volunteering for a Firefly Safety Core
(Medical, Rangers, Sanctuary, Fire and FAST volunteers.)
SFTY3rd is a training/social weekend and an awesome opportunity for Safety
Core volunteers to get involved, learn about working together in incidents
and emergencies and meet other Safety Core volunteers.
For more information:
https://www.fireflyartscollective.org/participate/join-a-core/sfty3rd/
----------
3. Burner Exchange Art Grant Submissions are DUE Monday 4/25 at midnight,
EDT!
The *Burner Exchange (BEX) Grants *are for art that has *already appeared*
either at a regional burn event or Burning Man and showcases the local
flavor of its origin. Grant money is intended to be applied to maintenance
/ improvements and shipping costs to Vermont. BEX Grants are awarded for up
to $1000.
Schedule:
March 28th: BEX grant applications open
*April 25th: BEX grant applications due*
*May 2nd: BEX Grants awarded*
Submissions this year will be handled through the Firefly Art Grants Web
Portal. If you signed up in 2015 your accounts are no longer active, so*
please sign up again*. For even more information, please visit the
following web page: Firefly Art Grants Overview. Feel free to reach out
with any questions to: grants(a)fireflyartscollective.org.
----------
4. Scholarship Ticket deadline lifted--apply now!
The Board has decided that rather than having a hard deadline (which has
passed) for scholarship tickets, we will keep the program open until either
we issue the maximum number we have allocated this year, or until we get so
close to Firefly that we don't have time to review them anymore. That's
probably a week or so before Firefly, to be determined later. Get your
applications in now!
https://www.fireflyartscollective.org/firefly/tickets/scholarship-tickets/
----------
5. Submit Firefly Ticket Artwork!
The skinny:
Please submit your artwork to FFTicketArt(a)fireflyartscollective.org
The DEADLINE: May 22 2016.
Tickets should be 4x3" and contain the words "Firefly" and "June 29 - July
4, 2016". High quality PDF or JPEG, 600+ dpi and CMYK color preferred, if
possible.
For the past two years we were able to use ARTifacts submissions as an
extra source of great ticket artwork. With the announced changes in the
registration and ARTifacts format this year, we are going back to requiring
that all ticket artwork submissions are sent in directly to
FFTicketArt(a)fireflyartscollective.org. More information, such as the
submission deadline, will be announced shortly.
One particularly exciting aspect of making tickets out of ARTifacts was
that we were able to use so many "physical", non-digitally created pieces.
Ticketing Core volunteers have scanned some great drawings, paintings and
all sorts of other hand-made objects that looked great printed - last year
there was even one super sleek metal piece! We'd like to keep this trend
going. So if you have a design that you'd rather submit in a physical form
- please contact us at the address above. And we'll arrange obtaining it
from you, and scanning and turning it into a printable ticket face.
Please note the deadline (May 22, by the end of the day). We are planning
to get it all done early this year!
----------
6. New Leadership Roles at Sanctuary! Sign up Today!
Sanctuary is looking for folks with backgrounds in psychiatric support to
help make a better Sanctuary for all those looking for a safe and
non-judgemental space during Firefly.
These include:
- Medical Liason - You'll ensure Sanctuary people are trainied properly
on WHEN to call for medical support and how
- Sexual Assault Liason - You'll ensure Sanctuary support folks are
trained properly for supporting folks that may have gone through a sexually
related trauma
- Peer Advocacy Liason - You make sure folks going through complex
scenarios have what they need
- Psychiatric Liason - You'll make sure emotionally drained and
struggling Fireflies have the support they need
- Sanctuary Infrastructure - Make Sanctuary beautiful, manage inventory,
ensure we leave no trace, and confirm power requirements are met
- Sanctuary Training Coordinator - We have 3 trainings that begin in
March, and many folks involved. You'll help make sure everyone gets signed
off on the all the needed materials.
Learn more here:
https://www.fireflyartscollective.org/participate/join-a-core/sanctuary/
Interested? Email us at sanctuary(a)fireflyartscollective.org
----------
7. DPW Volunteers, Join The Mailing List!
Would you like to help build and maintain Firefly's critical
infrastructure? Need a good excuse to spend every weekend in June up in
Vermont? Feel like you just don't sweat enough when you volunteer for other
cores? Then join the Department of Public Works! Learn about what we do
here:
https://www.fireflyartscollective.org/participate/join-a-core/dpw/
If you want to contribute to the DPW, join our mailing list. We'll send out
an email in early May with details on the Work Weekends in June and how to
sign up for them. More DPW opportunities will follow, but we won't spam
you, so keep an eye out. Subscribe yourself to the mailing list here:
https://lists.fireflyartscollective.org/listinfo/firefly-dpw-allcom
We look forward to putting you to work. Cheers!
----------
8. Kids' Art Grants
This is for all you Fireflies who are bringing kids younger than 16 to the
event. While we give out a bunch of art grants here at Firefly HQ to help
make the woods and the field even more amazing, those are all seemingly
targeted towards adults. While out in San Francisco last week for Burning
Man's Global Leadership Conference, I ended up talking to one of Utah's
Element 11 organizers and she was telling me how they have an art grant
program for kids. Well, huh, I thought, maybe we should have one as well.
So, now we have!
I would like to personally award four separate grants of $25 to children
under the age of 16 who are coming to Firefly to make art with. Please work
with your child and then send me their proposal and a brief statement about
why art is important to them and the four winners will each receive $25 to
make their art happen at the Firefly event this year.
So, send a brief description of what your child wants to do, and why art is
important to them to ruuskado(a)yahoo.com by midnight on May 6th. The winners
will be notified by May 12th. That's it, nice and simple.
Good Luck!
Doug
NOTE: This is not an official Firefly program, it is just something that I
thought would be a fun idea.
----------
9. "Just the Tip" by Wendy WTF
Not everyone who carries a radio is a Ranger
<https://www.fireflyartscollective.org/participate/join-a-core/rangers/>,
but all Rangers carry radios.
Hello Fireflies! We know this is not the email you were hoping for today*,
but our first item of interest will explain that…
* It's still Saturday for some of you, right?
CONTENTS
1. Ticket Lottery Delayed
2. Firefly Buses!
3. Scholarship tickets
4. Burner Exchange Art Grant Submissions
5. “Just the Tip”
----------
1. Ticket Lottery Delayed
The Ticket Lottery will be delayed by a day due to issues with the
payment-processing systems. Use this extra time to:
- Check that you are getting emails from
tickets(a)fireflyartscollective.org and that they aren’t being sent to spam
- (if you are using Groups) Make sure everyone you want to be in your
Group is actually approved to be in it—unapproved requests are the #1 cause
of group failure
- Meditate on your intention
- (if applicable) Write up an application for a Firefly Scholarship
Ticket (see below)
- Read about the open leadership opportunities
<https://www.fireflyartscollective.org/participate/join-a-core/open-leadersh…>
at Firefly and sign up for one that inspires you
- Think about how you’re going to get to Firefly (if you’re around
Boston, see below about bus tickets)
- Work on whatever your personal contribution to Firefly is
----------
2. Firefly Buses!
Parking is at a premium at Firefly, and it's a major problem for the event.
Help do your part and ride the bus from Boston! You will be able to buy bus
tickets through the same web portal as your event ticket once you get a
ticket offer, and bus tickets will be refundable until at least two weeks
before the event (possibly even later).
Buses to Firefly will each make three pickups in the Boston area, departing
on the following days and times:
Wednesday June 29: 10am Central Sq (Cambridge), 10:15am Union Sq
(Somerville), 10:30am Sullivan Sq
Thursday June 30: 1pm Central Sq (Cambridge), 1:15pm Union Sq (Somerville),
1:30pm Sullivan Sq
Friday July 1: 2:30pm Central Sq (Cambridge), 2:45pm Union Sq (Somerville),
3:00pm Sullivan Sq
Return buses will all leave on Monday, July 4, with the first bus leaving
shortly after 1:00pm (as soon as it's full) and the second bus leaving at
3:30pm sharp. Buses cannot wait for latecomers due to traffic enforcement
and/or late fees with the bus company, so please be punctual.
Passengers will be able to bring about three pieces of luggage plus a day
bag. A freight truck will be available on Wednesday and Sunday to carry
some luggage that does not fit on the bus, and additional freight shares on
the truck will be available to bus passengers for a moderate fee. Upon
arrival, volunteers will help you carry your labeled gear (and groceries)
to designated drop points further up the hill, another benefit of taking
the bus. Additionally, the buses will stop at a grocery store for last
minute supplies.
Bus tickets will cost $45 round trip or $30 one-way. You can buy through
the same portal as your event ticket.
Have questions? Please email MamaJean at transport(a)fireflyartscollective.org
----------
3. Scholarship tickets
This year, Firefly will offer a limited number of scholarship tickets to
participants who demonstrate a need for financial assistance acquiring a
ticket. The primary goal of this program is to support community members
during difficult times and help them join us at Firefly. A secondary goal
is to foster artistic expression through submissions.
For more information and how to apply for a Scholarship Ticket, see
https://www.fireflyartscollective.org/firefly/tickets/scholarship-tickets/
----------
4. Burner Exchange Art Grant Submissions
The Burner Exchange (BEX) Grants are for art that has already appeared
either at a regional burn event or Burning Man and showcases the local
flavor of its origin. Grant money is intended to be applied to maintenance
/ improvements and shipping costs to Vermont. BEX Grants are awarded for
amounts up to $1000. We'd prefer to give smaller amounts to more projects,
so use your judgement when deciding how much to ask for.
Schedule:
March 28th: BEX grant applications open
April 25th: BEX grant applications due
May 2nd: BEX Grants awarded
Submissions this year will be handled through the Firefly Art Grants Web
Portal. If you signed up in 2015, your accounts are no longer active so
please sign up again. For even more information, please visit the following
web page: Firefly Art Grants Overview. Feel free to reach out with any
questions to: grants(a)fireflyartscollective.org.
----------
5. Just the Tip by Wendy WTF
Your outrageous beauty is too much for some neighbors; cover your bits when
traversing the borderlands.