Dear Artist,

We would like to invite you to become part of the history Burning Man 2004. The good people of the South Bay burning man community are creating what will be the next largest Art piece to burn on the playa this year (not including the Man or the Temple ). We are raising money to fund our 2004 Vault of Heaven Art project which has been named The Pagoda of Infinite Reflection .

The Pagoda will stand 32 feet above the playa floor and support a wind driven device that spin upon the apex of the structure. On the evening of Wednesday, September First, a procession of people with progress across the Playa. Fire spinners, dancers, stilt walkers, and the community will carry lanterns carrying the flame that will release the Pagoda into the Vault of Heaven. It will be the first major fire on the play of 2004, and you can be part of it.

We are asking the burning Artist's we know and love for a donation of art for our Art Auction and Raffle. One hundred percent of the money raised by the Auction and Raffle will benefit the Pagoda. This event will be held as part of Burning Silicon's Precompression party on July 10 th at Studio AD (info below). Your contribution of art will be present at the event along with signage that let's the community know of your kindness, generosity, and support of The Pagoda.

We have accomplished a great deal and are almost there, but we could really use your help. We know that it is Artists like you who truly make the world a better and more beautiful place to live. We hope that join us in realizing the dream of giving back to the community through Art and Fire.

Should you wish to participate by donating a piece of art, please contact David or worm by July 5 th at worm416 at yahoo.com . Thank you for any help you can give us. If you know of any other artists that might consider donating a work of art, please forward this message and have them get in touch with us.

From the bottom of our burning hearts, we thank you.

The Pagoda Team ~

Andi, Arthur, Beka, David, Dea, Debi, Duncan, Ember, Eric, Gerry, Gidget, Kam, Melanie, Paul, Scary, Skid, Star, Suzanne, Wizzard, Warrior, worm, & Miranda

Not only did we have twenty incredible artists contribute over thirty different goodies to choose from, the Pagoda team was able to raise $1700 at the Art Raffle and Auction fundraiser held Saturday night at the Burning Silicon Pre-Compression gathering. To everyone that was there - your generosity was awesome. Those little chrome pigs were well fed!

The top five hot raffle items at the fundraiser were as follows:
#1 - The hottest ticket of the night was a chance at the hottest ticket to the hottest event this summer. The pair of Burning Man 2004 tickets (generously donated from BMOrg - thank you Marian for stirring them up) drew in the most number of raffle tickets.
#2 - Burner Shawn's plush and ultra-luscious playa outfit - the BRC Cave (Wo)Man duds - was the biggest draw after the tickets. That makes this the most sought after hand-made object of art that was donated to us. (Next time you see fuzzy Shawn in one of her gorgeous creations, please be sure to thank her appropriately!)
#3 - BMOrg came through again with their generous donations of books. Those two books drew in the third highest amount of tickets.
#4 - Our love of schwag and wearable art is obvious: Geartooths' four Chain Reaction pendants drew in the fourth largest amount of tickets.
#5 - To round out the top five hot raffle items, Gidget and her furry Kitty Hats were hot. Again, pettable fur! We are a tactile bunch.

Overall, every item we had to offer was very well received. Thank you Blondie, BMOrg, Brian Pridham, Bonefire, Burner Shawn, Catnip, Cindy Rocha, Di, Dieter Rencken, Edge, Geartooth, Propellerhead Gerry, Gidget, Kneelicks, Lisa Falk, Miranda, sCary, Soundman, Tool, Waldemar (collectively, the six prints he donated were the third largest raffle draw) , and Wizzard. Each of these artists did an amazing job providing the rest of us with incentive to give generously.

Thanks to a great team that worked hard making this fundraiser happen: Arthur (god of ticket sales - you're awesome, totally awesome) , David ,Dea, Debi, Miranda, sCary, and Wizzard. You made this a lot easier to pull off. Thanks to Gidget and Skid for letting us get in their way while they were trying to organize a really great Pre-Com party. To anyone else that helped out in any way, thank you.

Thanks again, everyone. We did well.