The Art of Burning Man

Joanna Priestley premieres The Art of Burning Man and two new short films at OMSI followed by Q&A

Media Contact: Annemarie Eayrs
aeayrs@omsi.edu | P: 503-797-4510

[PORTLAND, OR – October 24, 2023] – To celebrate the explosive creativity of the famous Burning Man festival in northern Nevada, award-winning Portland filmmaker Joanna Priestley presents The Art of Burning Man and premieres two new films at OMSI’s Empirical Theatre on Saturday, November 18, 2023.

The Art of Burning Man is a live digital image show that celebrates the explosive creativity of the Burning Man festival in northern Nevada. It features sculptures, architecture, installations, and mutant vehicles made from 2002 to 2022. Priestley is also presenting Fleeting Marvels, a new short film about Burning Man, and Priestley’s new, award-winning animated short Jung & Restless. An audience question and answer session with Priestley and film crew members will follow the presentation.

Burning Man has an important connection to Portland. Co-founder Larry Harvey grew up in Portland, graduated from Parkrose High School in 1966, and attended Portland State University. With Burning Man, Harvey co-created an immense blank slate for people to express their creativity within a community of tens of thousands of people. In 2001, Burning Man set up the Black Rock Arts Foundation to fund art projects. Their honoraria program now awards $1.3 million annually to fund artworks at the event. The foundation says that “Burning Man has rekindled one of art’s most valuable functions: connecting community members in creation, curiosity, and wonderment”.

Priestley first went to Burning Man in 2002 and says, “When I stepped onto the desert at Black Rock City that first year, I was completely blown away by the extraordinary creativity everywhere I looked. I saw huge handcrafted buildings that looked like temples, gorgeous monumental metal sculptures with people climbing all over them, a gigantic shark driving around with a cocktail bar inside and a beautiful, illuminated white whale cruising across the desert at night. It was mind boggling!”

Melony Beaird, Director of Events at OMSI, shares, “Burning Man has such a powerful impact on our culture and art. To have a local artist bring the visual and creative splendor of the festival to us on the big screen is an honor and a thrill.”

The Art of Burning Man, Fleeting Marvels, and Jung & Restless premiere Nov 18 at 7pm at OMSI’s Empirical Theater.

Tickets & Pricing

The Art of Burning Man: Adult $15, Youth (ages 3-13) $5, Seniors (ages 63+) $12
OMSI members receive 15% off tickets.

Recommended for ages 10 and above.

Tickets are available here.

About Joanna Priestley
Joanna Priestley has directed, animated, and produced 32 award-winning films. Her animated feature North of Blue won Best Experimental Film at the Indie Film Awards in Amsterdam and Best Feature Film at the Los Angeles Animation Festival. Priestley’s work maintains a high level of porosity between serious exploration of boundaries and intuitive whimsy. She has had retrospectives at the British Film Institute, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Center for Contemporary Art (Warsaw, Poland), among others. Priestley has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Film Institute, and others. She was founding president of the International Animated Film Association Northwest and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts. Priestley annually juries the Oscars, Student Academy Awards, and many other film festivals. She lives next to the forest in Portland, Oregon with her husband, director/production designer Paul Harrod.

About OMSI
Founded in 1944, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) is one of the nation’s leading science museums and a trusted educational resource for communities throughout Oregon and the region. Through museum exhibitions, public programs, outdoor programs, traveling exhibitions, digital learning, and learning research and design, OMSI nourishes a lifelong love of science, curiosity and learning among its diverse audiences. The upcoming OMSI District – a collaboration of local, Tribal and regional government entities, nonprofits and businesses – will be a one-of-a-kind neighborhood with innovation, culture and science learning at its heart. OMSI is located at 1945 S.E. Water Avenue, Portland, OR, 97214. For general information, call 503.797.4000 or visit omsi.edu. Connect with the museum on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.