Arts Alive! coordinated the Arts Track of the Radically Rural Summit. Radically Rural is an annual two-day summit that brings together hundreds people who are passionate about creating vibrant, robust rural communities and eager to learn, connect and lead change.
Broad shifts in demographics, communications, technology, economic development, and personal values are generating creative responses from innovative thinkers, change-makers, entrepreneurs, and community-builders who love their towns and know their advantages.
Here is a rundown on what we learned in our Crazy Good session:
Crazy Good: Stewardship of Place - Art & Events on Conserved Land
Emma Weisman told us the story of Burning Man - a radical event that occurs annually in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada on conserved federal land, adjacent to the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal lands.
Emma reviewed the ten guiding principals of Burning Man and how they impact the culture of stewardship of place:
1.Radical Inclusion
2.Gifting
3.Decommodification
4.Radical Self-Reliance
5.Radical Self-Expression
6.Communal Effort
7.Civic Engagement
8.Leaving No Trace
9.Participation
10.Immediacy
Monadnock Concervancy’s Ryan Owens joined the conversation to ask questions about how Emma and the audience could see how the event might translate to smaller communities and parcels of conserved land.
A theme that returned again and again was what Emma called “aculturation” - or education of new participants into the culture of Burning Man’s principals and practices. This video is an example of some of the pre-training and education that supports new attendees understanding the care and practices that the organization fosters for the Black Rock Desert.
This video shares one of the ways the attendees can participate in caring for the land: