Balsa Blog

Dress Warm, Balsa Man's Favorite Alternative Weekly, came back as well in 2020 and produced a special edition with writers Niloc Noir, Adrian Roberts, and Malderdor!

The 2020 "On Display" patch is available for a limited time! During the exhibition, the patch can be purchased at the museum store!

I, more than anyone, is surprised to be bringing Balsa Man back. The first Balsa Man in 2008 was done nearly on a whim, but I knew I had to do it again after seeing the smiles on everyone's faces in the meager light of the burning balsa.

When I started this art project so many years ago, it was little more than a minor inspiration. I had originally just planned to burn the lil' guy myself but others soon asked if they could come and add something to the event.

Once again Balsa Man is being celebrated around the world! Both Balsa Man Japan and Balsa Blighty, the London Balsa Regional are on again after such a resounding joyful success they were last year!

Are your Xactos sharp? Is your glue ready to stick? Got wood? Actually I don't care what your answer is come anyway, even if you only have an ounce of an idea and not a scrap of balsa. Supplies will be provided as will the creative spirit! You may walk away inspired or just have fun lending a hand to other tiny artists trying to realize their small dream.

The New England Black Rock Desert Camper Regional, Firefly, usually has a giant bug as the effigy, and this year somehow ended up with a woolly mammoth. In that spirit of change and growth, and in line with the "Growing Pains" theme of this year's Balsa Man, participants at the NE Balsa Man regional will burn a 2' effigy of a glowworm.

While everyone on Baker Beach is buttoning up their parkas and fumbling with their thermal underwear we'll throw our own Balsa Man in the Black Rock Desert!

The theme of Balsa Man 2011 is “Growing Pains”. This year we will focus on growth — it’s fits and starts, it’s pains and pleasures, it’s mistakes and triumphs that are the fuel of growth.

Balsa Blighty is 99% complete and we are putting on the finishing touches Sunday.  We've been hard at work cutting, swearing, gluing, drinking, sanding, and throwing our arms up in frustration... this last bit was when we found ourselves out of both glue and drink. Oh dear! We have powered through the difficult times and managed to get done without firing any volunteers or having any visits to medical professionals.

The twin cities has so much enthusiasm for all that is tiny that it can't be contained by merely having one Balsa Regional! ! Now you may remember that Cali "Starfive" Mansty lead Paul Balsa Bunyan Man Regional in Minneapolis last February coinciding with the amazing Tiny Shantyart project.

Announcing Teenystarter, wee fundraising for tiny artists! Tiny artists set a meager monetary goal and if they reach that goal they get to keep all the proceeds.

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.

Lastly but certainly not leastly, San Francisco will have it's own Tiny Art Build party on Sunday Aug 22st from noon to 8pm. (_Note has been changed was originally the 21st_) The great Rick Abruzzo, master sausage chef, event organizer, and more, has offered to host the SF Tiny Art Party.

We are happy to announce the South San Francisco Tiny Art Build party will be happening on Sunday Aug 15th from noon to 8pm. The wonderful Carol Sanders will be hosting at her place in South San Francisco (only a 10 minute walk from South SF BART or 5 minute drive from Caltrain).

We are proud to announce that Steve Courtney has stepped up as this year's Black Rock Regional Lead! Steve and his desert pals have a small camp they call the Fandango Village where they have generously offered to host the Black Rock Balsa Man Regional.

Balsa Man is having it's first East Coast Regional in Philadelphia! The city of brotherly love will have it's very own **Philly Balsa Man Regional Burn on Sept 4th**!

Our Japanese counterparts have launched their own Balsa Man Japan website! Their regional burn will be happening on **August 29th at 5pm**. The location will be announced one week prior to the event on the 22nd.

Our survival is your responsibility please make sure you read all of this survival guide and the Health & Safety section of the Terms & Conditions

Balsa Blighty is the first transatlantic Balsa Man regional in London, England. Lead by Miss Cheeky, Balsa Blightly aims to bring tiny art to the Big Smoke—giving Balsa Man a bit of British flavour!

This year's Balsa Man is all about focusing on the community that is forged around tiny art. In so doing, we are pushing hard to promote the Balsa Regionals

The Black Pebble Arts Foundation is open for tiny art grant proposals! Last year, of the 33 tiny artists who applied for tiny art grants only one was turned down—I can't remember why they were declined but I'm sure the BPAF committee had a good reason.

Sunday marked the first annual **Tiny Shanty's Tiny Fire Arts Festival**! It was the first Balsa Regional of 2010 and the first ever Midwest Balsa Regional. The regional balsa burn also marked the closing of the magical Tiny Shanty and which was one of the star attractions at the Art Shanty Project, an art festival on the beautiful frozen Medicine Lake.

Celebrating all that is small, the Tiny Shanty Project will be hosting the first ever Tiny Fire Arts festival in Minneapolis, MN on the beautiful frozen Medicine Lake! The Tiny Festival will mark the end of the amazing Art Shanty Projects which the Tiny Shanty was apart. The Tiny Fire Arts Festival also marks what is the first of many Balsa Regionals to happen in 2010!

I'm sure you all know by now what an amazing success Balsa Man was. The Balsa Man himself may have arrived a tad late—due to amalgam of minor impediments so typical of art projects large and small—but once he arrived the small crowd of early arrivals cheered and the preparations began in earnest.

The first tiny art build party was such a success with so much tiny creative spirit that we have decided to do two more this weekend One in **Oakland on Saturday Aug 29th from noon to 7pm** and another in **San Francisco on Sunday Aug 30th from noon to 7pm**.

After one solid weekend of work and another late weeknight, the Balsa Man has been built! There are a number of improvements to the man this year. Most noticeably, the ribs and the circles on the arms and legs which are much more regular and smooth thanks the new scroll saw which was a recent addition to the Balsa Man workshop.

Get your pencils, x-actos, glue, wood, and most importantly your creative juices psyched for the first Tiny Art Build Party of the season.

If you're looking for a tiny replica of the World's Largest Can of Spinach, Carhenge, or Babe the Blue Ox, look no further than The World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things!

We encourage all to arrive by **6pm on Sept 5th** to view the tiny art and mingle with the other Balsa Man Participants—don't be late because Balsa Man is as short as it is tiny.

Jeff Ross, founder and director of the SF Indie Fest, has promised a $10 matching donation to the Black Pebble Arts Foundation for the next donor who donates $10 or more! Remember donations are used to fund tiny art grants for our wonderful tiny artists.

Last year was the first Balsa Man. It was a small, short, but nonetheless grand event. I don't know what I loved best between the adorable tiny trash fence, the Temple of Reduced Expectations, the bubblegum pink Buddha sculptures, the Diminutive Dance Dance Immolation, the Psychic Pizza Delivery, the Balsa Man Burn itself, or the joyous participation of all who came!