The BPAF has just received this marvelous little grant request and regional proposal. We all immediately loved the idea as, as we know it is a small struggle to cross all that sand.

Toothpick Man, Near End of the Beach Regional

Keith Schon

Toothpicks, photo by Svenneman

I had a lot of fun last year participating in Balsa Man: volunteering at the Cafe, driving my RC art car around.  But the fact of the matter is, hauling all that stuff all the way to the far end of the beach is a pain in the ass.  It takes a lot of time, preparation, and endurance.  And all the “coping” — sand in my shoes, trying hard to find people… geeze!  I can’t do that every year.

This year, I want there to be an alternative for all those people who can’t get their act together in time for Balsa Man.  I intend to hold an even tinier event:  ”Toothpick Man”.  This will be held in the parking lot, or at the base of the stairs, depending on  circumstances.  The scale for this event will be approximately 1/5 that of Balsa Man, (i.e. 1/80 scale).  It will involve creature-comforts that are simply not available at the far end of the beach.

Grant requested:  $5 * 1/5 = $1

Simply bitsy brilliant Keith! We are more than happy to award you your grant of $1 and we will also be sending you a 1/5th size official regional certificate.

We received the following digital tiny art grant request. While we of course prefer postcards, this art project was too endearing not to honor:

“we and our 1/3 scale son would like to bring The Ghost of the Balsa Man. He will be made of straws and tissue paper and can fly after the man burn, aided in flight by balloons. We’d like enough for helium to fill balloons to raise the man.

achemical and baby bot“

The Ghost of Balsa Man

One thing that worries us about this project is that the world’s supply of Helium is running out. But we overcame our worries—it is only a wafer thin amount of helium. Not knowing how much it costs to fill balloons, we decided to award a grant of $8 to match the width of the project.

We heard through the grape vine that this year the Black Rock Balsa Regional won’t be the only art project entertaining those desert campers. It seems that our small project has inspired others to also embrace the idea of making art out there on the Black Rock Desert—rather than just sit around staring at the mirages and dust devils. The one project we heard about seems cut directly from our own small artistic stock: Tiny Tropolis, 100 dioramas, each containing a small unique work of art by a tiny artist. Their box dimensions (12″ x 12″ x 8″) are a tad large, as such the BPAF can’t support their efforts.

Lo and behold, but what did the BPAF get in the mail but a grant request from J.D. & Logan for Tiny Tropolis’s smaller cousin Teeny Tropolis! No worries about supporting a project that was too large for their box dimensions are a wee 3.2 x 1.4 x 1.5 cm. Also we all applaud their choice of postcard—they really know how to stab into our hearts!

Congratulations J.D. & Logan for your grant award of $2! Unfortunately, none of the BPAF Art grant committee had the two dollar bill you specifically requested, but we will send your grant along as soon as we get one.

The BPAF is proud to announce their first ever $30 grant! This is the largest tiny art grant the BPAF has ever handed out in the long history of Balsa Man. This was a contentious decision to award such a large grant but everyone on the committee felt Slighty Impolite Awakening was such a politically cogent work given the current oil disaster hitting the Mexican Gulf. Also, at 2 feet tall it is relatively large project. In the end, the vote was locked in by the fact that everyone was smitten with the word “SPLODEY!”

Congratulations Matt Whatley for being awarded for your full art grant request of $30 ($20 for construction and $10 for SPLODEY)!

Slightly Impolite Awakening (front)

Slightly Impolite Awakening (back)

Craigslist Counterfeit Balsa Man Ticket

Looks like our previous post about counterfeit Balsa Man tickets don’t reach out to enough people. We’ve unfortunately found two people on craigslist who didn’t get the message and are looking for Balsa Man tickets.

More alarming we ran across one scammer trying to hoodwink the small minded by selling an obvious counterfeit ticket (see photo).

Also, in our search, we found someone looking for a ride to Balsa Man—we do recommend ride sharing.

Remember folks THERE ARE NO BALSA MAN TICKETS. Balsa Man is purely DONOR SUPPORTED.

Truly Support Tiny Art Through Donations

I know that the utter amazingness of the Balsa Man event can seem unbelievable at times. With all the hucksters online it’s hard to know what to believe these days.

However, know this: we truly do use the proceeds from donations and the sale of patchs, stickers, and engraved x-acto boxes to support tiny artists…

• Every Donor get’s an official letter of donor recognition and a gift depending on their level of donation (see donor award gifts)
• Every Tiny Artist who is awarded a grant is sent a letter of confirmation along with their grant award money and a gift of a Balsa Man sticker (see tiny art grants).
• Donations also pay for materials and supplies for Tiny Art Build Parties.
• The BPAF Art Grant budget relies on you the donor to support tiny art. The more you donate the more tiny art we can support!

Remember last year there was such a high demand for patches that we ran out a couple weeks prior to the event. This year, we made more swank limited edition patches but we still expect to run out and once they run out we won’t make any more. So to get yours donate today!

Tonight, the BPAF will be mailing out all art grant awards and the gift packages to all the donors who’ve given thus far. If you donate today your gift package will be included in this shipment; next shipment won’t be until next week.

First off, while Colin appreciates the new title Brigadier General, he wants everyone to know that the bMorg is no dictatorship. And he’s quite happy with the titles he already has: Chief Tiny Officer of Balsa Man, Director of the Black Pebble Arts Foundation, and Lead Manager for the Balsa Man KCrew.

The BPAF didn’t really know what to make of this art project: The Cafe That Wanted To Be Art, by QueGee. We respect that it obviously has a lot of meaning for QueGee who says that “I built her for 8 years in homage to ‘Burning Time’  and now I want to give her a proper sendoff!” However, no one on the BPAF committee knew what this Burning Time was nor could they fathom why a cafe would require to be continuously under construction for 8 years. Nevertheless we did like the idea of a roving cafe and appreciated that this strange little project truly meant something to QueGee.

Thus, the BPAF unanimously voted with a shrug* to award QueGee a tiny art grant!

The Cafe That Wanted To Be Art (front)

The Cafe That Wanted To Be Art (back)

* The BPAF bylaws state that any vote with a shrug cannot be awarded a full grant; thus, we sent intern “hotpants” to check the price for QueGee’s requested materials:

• Construction Paper (2 packs): $3.29 x 2
• Pack of 250 toothepicks: $0.99
• Dental Floss: $1.79
• Additional Balsa Wood: $5

Total Tiny Art Grant Award: $14.36

Congratulations QueGee!