Tag Archive for: telluride

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.

Casey Moore LED Trees

Dec. 2-4: A Multi-Sensory Experience Of Epic Proportions

The annual gathering of flame-inspired art is going to be bigger than ever thanks to Colorado Creative Industries and the Colorado Arts Relief Fund. The grant has made it possible to attract more artists with larger, more fantastical installations. One such installation is slated to be 48 feet wide by 16 feet tall, which will create an extraordinary transformation when on fire.

Rocky Mountain Arts will produce the fiery, three-day event December 2-4 with new and returning fire artists including: Dave Mechtly, from Denver; Fort Collins LED/fire artist, Casey Moore; and from Telluride, Keith D’Angelo and Niel Ringstad.

Free flow arts workshops will be taught by Ashley Higgs, from Durango and Stephanie Brown, and Beth Henshaw from Denver. A variety of fun one-hour workshops in partner hooping, aerial silk, lyra and more will be offered. All workshops will be located at the Wilkinson Public Library’s Program Room The workshops will be for youth and adults. No experience required.

Expect over-the-top fiery art shooting flames high into the night sky at the finale event at the end of the box canyon. The family-friendly, outdoor event will enchant all with interactive, flaming sculptures, fire dancers, music and a cash bar.

Free Teen Art Installation Workshop October 1 & 2
This year we are teaming up again with the nonprofit True North Youth Program.  Additional support will be provided by Alpine Bank for this free weekend workshop to create a wood art installation. The focus for this workshop is on obtaining participation from the rural San Juan region teens who have limited access to resources and opportunities. These students will learn how to use all types of tools and work as a team to create their vision, which will be showcased at the December Festival. All students will be invited to attend the Festival as well.

Other events for everyone
Thursday evening will unfold with a reception at Slate Gray Gallery featuring local artist, Dan Gundrum.
Dan Gundrum specializes in immersive digital art though projection mapping, lasers and special effects through his company Pivotal Effects. He regularly shares his talent through artist workshops and holds an annual welding workshop through Rocky Mountain Arts.

Friday evening, the Festival will present a dance and acrobatic performance at The Palm Theater in collaboration with Homestead Circus Productions out of Paonia, CO.

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.

True North Youth Program: Art installation build workshop

This art installation build workshop took place in the Festival Founders yard on November 6 & 7, 2021. Eight teens signed up to create magic over two days with Chris Myers & Erin Ries. The sculpture was showcased at Resurrection on December 4th. And, transformed by fire like the other wood sculptures.
The True North Youth Program kids all attended the event for free.
This program was made possible in part by the generous support of Alpine Bank.
If you are with True North Youth Program and wish to participate in the October 1 & 2, 2022 workshop, email erin@telluridefirefestival.org.

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.

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!

Justin Gray Fiery Robots: coming to Telluride Fire Festival

Justin Gray built his first RC car at age seven and picked up his first welding torch at age sixteen. An apprenticeship with renowned sculptor Martin Metal shaped Justin’s esthetics in patina and metal sculpture.

Justin soon co-founded fire sculpture group Therm. This underground group built wild and complex fire sculpture and presented it internationally, pushing the envelope of audacious art and performance. Legendary large-scale machine performance group Survival Research Labs soon captured Justin’s interest, and he joined this group of like-minded techno-destructionists in 2006.

Justin’s obsession with radio control also thrived, leading him to protype and build his first electric vehicle in 2000. Justin continued building custom electric vehicles for future-thinking clients looking to gain a foothold in the burgeoning electric vehicle industry, and continues this work today.

It was only a matter of time before Justin’s passions converged and his resulting fleet of electric drive radio controlled fire sculpture robots are uniquely powerful, savage, and beautiful.

Justin’s robots share his shop with Graywrx Fabrication, a fully tooled machining and fabrication shop, where his broad range of abilities and limitless imagination enable Justin to engineer solutions to even the unlikeliest challenges posed by his exacting clientele.

Specialties

Electric vehicle design and fabrication, prototyping, metal fabrication, robotic systems design and build, special effects (fire and robots), precision machining including mill and lathe work, hydraulic systems design and repair.