Burning Man Comes to San Mateo

Community building, collaboration and experimentation are qualities that San Mateo and its community partners strive to achieve.  Projects such as the North B Street Improvement Initiative, the Central Park Master Plan and the Downtown San Mateo Arts and Innovation District are built on the concepts of community involvement and activation. 

No culture, in recent history, has inspired community building more so than Burning Man.  The City of San Mateo, as part of San Mateo Innovation Week, is proud to be the first city on the Peninsula to partner with the Burning Man Project and engage the community in a conversation about how the Burning Man culture is transforming the way people approach community building.

The upcoming panel discussion, “Building and Inspiring the Community You Envision,” taking place on May 14th features Burning Man founder, Michael Mikel and activators from the Burning Man community. This insightful discussion explores the ways Burning Man values, reflected in the Ten Principles, have inspired individuals to build community through art, technology and urban placemaking.

Panelists include Oakland artist and founder of American Steel Studios, Karen Cusolito; Dr. Mike North, host of the Discovery Channel’s Prototype This! and founder of ReAllocate and Ilana Lipsett, co-founder of Freespace.  Stuart Mangrum, Education Director for the Burning Man Project will facilitate the discussion.

Michael Mikel will kick-off the conversation sharing how Burning Man grew from an event at Ocean Beach to a global culture.  Each panelist will share how their passions have fueled communities locally and throughout the world.   

“It’s exciting to bring Burning Man and this panel to San Mateo,” says Rebecca Zito, Senior Management Analyst with the City of San Mateo. “It will speak to a lot of interests and inspire people to experiment with the things they’re passionate about.  Innovation is driven by ideas and Burning Man’s values have inspired many to bring theirs to life.”

Building and Inspiring the Community You Envision takes place on Wednesday, May 14th from 6:00 to 8:00 PM at Joe’s Garage located in Downtown San Mateo at 308 E. 6th Avenue.  Registration is free, but space is limited; reserve your space using Eventbrite.  San Mateo Innovation Week takes place from May 12th through 16th.  Visit San Mateo Innovation Week for more information.  Visit our Facebook page www.facebook.com/sanmateoiw to share your innovative ideas.