Elephant Expressions

Dates and Times:
Monday, August 29th – All Day
Tuesday, August 30th – All Day
Wednesday, August 31st – All Day
Thursday, September 1st – All Day
Friday, September 2nd – All Day
Saturday, September 3rd – All Day
Sunday, September 4th – All Day
Monday, September 5th – All Day
Tuesday, September 6th – All Day
Type:
Class/Workshop
Location:
Elephant Expressions/Radical Self-Expression, The Ten Principles of Burning Man

Description:

A ten part, ten year art project based on the Ten Principles of Burning Man. This year, in name of "Radical Self Expression" we sent out five hundred vinyl toy elephants to kids all over the world and asked them to express themselves by decorating them. We are then taking those elephants and displaying them at Burning Man under The Man as part of the Guild Workshops piazza.
Our aim is to bring awareness of the importance of creativity in a child's life. Lack of funding has stopped art programs in many public schools across the country. We are figuratively and literally putting the crayon back in the child's hand. We are also bringing 10,000 elephants to the playa this year and letting burners express themselves by decorating the elephants, and gifting them to fellow burners.
We chose to create a vinyl elephant for the kids to decorate because of the elephant's outstanding memory. We are building positive experiences in children that we want them to remember for a lifetime.
We also sculpted the elephant into the shape of the Vitruvian Man, as a wink to this year's Burning Man theme.