Tag Archive for: telluride fire festival

Hex Machina: Gigantic, Interactive “Lantern”

Nate Robertson and Garrett Briones will be bringing Hex Machina, an interactive propane fire “poofer” or “boosh” effect. Essentially, this is a gigantic, interactive lantern: Visitors can push a button to release a burst of fire within the large steel hexagonal lantern which is seated above a 22 ft hexagonal steel framework. This flame effect is a high pressure propane system, utilizing structural steel fabrication to create a safe, stable fire sculpture. See and interact with Hex Machina Saturday, December 3.

The entirety of the supporting frame is composed of carbon steel 14 gauge-⅜in. thickness of materials. Six sections of fabricated 2’x1’x14 ga. square tubing supports connect from the bottom ⅜” thick, hexagonal baseplates, to a hexagonal plate connection plate at the top, forming a solid steel, monolithic structure.

About the Artists

Nate Robertson has a passion for sustainability when creating art. That sentimentality drives his creative process. Hey is experienced in building tiny homes, van-builds, shipping container builds, skoolies and off-grid applications, which inform and influence his art creations.

Nate started building at age seven for family businesses. He completed a welding certification program in 2012 and has spent the past decade incorporating all he learned into fabrication methods and processes, building everything from roller coasters to 60-ton stainless steel pressure vessels and everything in between. Nate connected with the NM’s Burning Man Regional in 2019, and fell in love. Now, he’s a Board Member! He says, “I’ll never stop making large scale fire art until the day I die if I have anything to say about it.”

Garrett Briones started woodworking with his father as a child. A knack for things running smoothly also inspired his degree in Flowology, focusing on making sure every aspect of life and work was streamlined for success. His true passion for fabrication began when he discovered tiny living, especially school bus conversions.Ccurrently, Garrett helps with SunBurn, NM’s Regional Burning Man. Garrett leads the DPW Dept. and creates large scale art for the event as well. Making art is his passion and always will be.

true north workshop participants from 2021

Free Teen Sculpture Build, Oct. 1 & 2!

Rocky Mountain Arts will collaborate with True North Youth Program to produce a wood building sculpture workshop for teens through support from Alpine Bank. The completed art installation will be on display on December 3 at the Telluride Fire Festival. All students will be invited to attend the event in December.

THE DEETS: 
Oct 1 & 2: 10am-4pm each day
Snacks, lunch, tools, and all supplies provided both days.

Text or call 970-708-1986 to sign up!
Only 10 spots are available!

Thanks to Alpine Bank’s generosity for helping to make this workshop a reality.
Alpine Bank believes in creating strong, long-lasting relationships and giving back. When they are not working in the bank, you will find them volunteering in the community, attending local events and enjoying the many outdoor activities Telluride offers.

Offsetting Our Carbon Footprint

At the Festival, fire takes center stage as the dynamic force that it is. We know that what we are doing here (and each and every day of our lives) has an impact. For us, focusing on fire brings it back to the conversation, so we can recognize its power and see that it can both transform and destroy.
 
With this understanding, the Festival is committed to ACTION to make significant changes in the way we live every day, and you can do this, too. This year, the Festival has purchased 1,000 trees to help restore our national forests that have been ravaged by fire. Trees, and in fact, all plant life, clean our planet’s atmosphere by removing carbon (from the combustion of fuels) and transforming it into oxygen. This is but one small step that each of us can take to help restore that which is essential to life.
 
In addition, we are committed to the two most important of the 3-R’s: REDUCE and REUSE. Most of the clean, chemically-untreated wood burned in the artistic fire cauldrons and art installations has been salvaged from construction dumpsters. Much of the event decor has been “rescued” and reused, and the stages (and many informational signs) have been made out of salvaged hardware, lumber, and plywood. In addition, the Festival purchased an all-electric vehicle in 2018, which goes farther (and faster) than a gasoline- powered vehicle, further reducing the amount of fossil-fuel “fire” we use.
 
May the fire at the Festival inspire you to face your use of fire and ACT to make important changes in your life every day.

Teens Create!

This past November 6 & 7 Rocky Mountain Arts held a workshop with teens in the True North Youth Program. These talented students created a wood sculpture, which will be on display Dec. 4 at Resurrection…and, will burn a la Burning Man style along with two other larger-than-life sculptures.

The amazing Co-Creators were:
Angie Saldin, Selma Tutt-Pyk, Valeria Villafuerte, Jocelyn Nieto, Daniel Gutierrez,
Alex Ramirez, Jairo Gonzalez Zarazua, Claire Jacobs, and Alex Ambriz.

COVID Safety

Right now, more than ever, we need to support artists and create space to have fun, while at the same time being safe. We welcome anyone and everyone to join us December 3-5 in Telluride, CO.

Here’s what we will do for December 2-4 to keep our participants, volunteers, staff, artists, and performers safe:

  • Attendees will be required to wear a face mask indoors if they have not been vaccinated.
  • No cash transactions, only credit card purchases on site.
  • Hand sanitizer will be available at every event and workshop.
  • Attendees will be required to show proof of vaccination with ID or negative Covid test within 72 hours of Dec. 2 with ID.

If you wish to volunteer, donate or be a sponsor please email erin@telluridefirefestival.org for more info.

The Festival is proud to announce the grant awarded by Colorado Creative Industries!

The Telluride Fire Festival is grateful for the support of CCI!

Colorado Creative Industries (CCI) announced yesterday the recipients for the Colorado Creates grant program for Fiscal Year 2020. A total of 134 grants were awarded in 27 counties across the state totaling $915,000. The Festival is proud to boast being one of those recipients. The agency’s grants benefit both small and large communities, with 38% of grant funds awarded in communities located outside the Denver metro area.

Colorado Creates is CCI’s largest grant program, providing critical financial support that helps nonprofit cultural organizations like us to produce and present arts and cultural activities, bringing jobs to our communities and enhancing quality of life. Thank you, CCI!

Help us bring amazing art to Telluride for Fire Festival 2018

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Fire Performances & Fire Installations

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Thank You Mountain High Fire & Safety!

We wish to thank Mountain High Fire & Safety for their continued support of the Telluride Fire Festival. We are so grateful for their sponsorship as we head into our 3rd annual event. We could not do it without you!

Albuquerque artist, Shane Shane’s biodiversity sphere at 2017 Fire Fest

Albuquerque artist Shane Shane created a biodiversity sphere out of a 500-gallon propane tank from the 1950s. Each detail is more intricate than the next. And Albuquerque artist Shane Shane wanted it that way. Out of a 500-gallon propane tank from the 1950s, Shane was able to create a world. 

It’s one of wonder and it’s one with a message.

“The ecosystem is important to every creature,” explains Shane. “Each part is represented in this piece.”

Shane’s “Biodiversity Sphere – Endless Prospect of Life & Wonder” took nearly three months of work. Each piece of the project was hand cut by Shane and Shaun Myers.

There are dolphins, elephants, rhinos as well as an owl, a wolf and many sea creatures included in the piece. Inside the hollow sphere, Shane has set up a propane tank, which lights up the entire sculpture at night. 

Shane is making his first trip to Telluride this January 20 to participate in the 3rd annual Festival both his Biodiversity Fire Sphere and a new creation called Obelisk.

Image by Albuquerque Journal photographer, Jim Thompson.