Entheon Village is proud to be hosting the Feed the Artists program again in 2009.
FtA is a Communal Art Grant through food that was created by Keith “Colonel Angus” Rinzler and Jean-Pierre “Chef JP” Weingarten. It is an opportunity for early-arrival theme camps, to support honorarium artists by offering them the gift of nourishment, camaraderie, support, and appreciation.
FtA is actively changing the mindset of BRC by demonstrating that with the gift of a simple heartfelt meal during setup week, the BM community can support its artists and help insure that they’re not completely burned out by the time burn week rolls around.
They do this to:
1. Support BM’s artists
2. Create healthy and meaningful interactions between artists and theme camps that promote bonding, collaboration and the sharing of resources, and
3. Elevate the role of food on the playa as an art form
The idea is simple. During setup week, FtA utilizes Entheon’s kitchen to feed gourmet food to most of the funded artists on the playa over the course of 4 nights. Additionally, through their website, www.feedtheartists.net, they match those artists with other early-arrival theme camps who may have the space, time, and a bit of extra resources to provide the same very special gift…a nourishing, heartfelt meal. A meal that provides everyone involved with a brief respite from the stresses of playa setup; a meal that allows two groups who may not have otherwise become acquainted to “break-bread” together and discover each other; and, most importantly, a meal that nourishes the bodies, minds, and souls of all its participants, and ultimately, by extension, the entire Burning Man community.
Last year, FtA and Entheon Village, along with seven other theme camps, provided at least one gourmet meal to EVERY FUNDED ARTIST who wanted one, over 850 people. We also held four “All Artists” breakfasts that fed just about every crew member of every other artist group on the playa, and the response from the BM community was overwhelming.
This year, FtA and Entheon will again be hosting four FtA dinners during setup week. Additionally, the FtA crew will be initiating a new Early Week Food Gifting Program where food is prepared and randomly taken out to artists while they are working on their projects. And, FtA is working hard to triple the number of theme camps who participate in the program by hosting their own FtA dinners, so that, once again, every funded artist that wants an FtA meal will get one.
This amazing gift to the BM community is wholeheartedly supported by Entheon Village.