Aaron and I attended Catharsis this year, a regional burn held on the mall in Washington DC. It is an incredible gathering - to see a collective of hundreds on the mall in festive Burning Man attire, art cars, stages with music and art. A lot of the art was politically charged (obviously), and I received so much being able to play in, essentially, the back yard of the White House and engage with my community fully. I’ve seen this space activated so many times for so many protests, and I always find it revitalizing. Public response in DC is so beautiful.

We spent the evening walking around Catharsis and talking to participants. A few of my favorite things - Meeting Chuck, a local soon to be burner from my Hometown of York, PA!, Listening to a black “preacher” with a small choir sing and preach the word “NO!”, dancing together to stay warm and a beautiful peace sign installed at the base of the Washington Monument. 

After leaving Catharsis, we walked around and came upon a beautiful old institution and ate oysters and drank wine. We parked along the mall, and slept in the Hearse.  

The following morning, I had the pleasure of taking Aaron to the “No Spectators” Burning Man exhibit at the Renwick. The top floor of the show is still up until the end of January! Chop Chop if you haven’t made it in yet. We also stumbled upon a beautiful little art gallery with a wonderful show, over 60 artists works responding to our current presidency. I’ve included images of some of the works.