Artists - Invitation Only

Sorry for the confusion, but the 2011 Balcones Burner Bash is going to be invitation only. We have opened up the battle to artists within the state of Texas, but at this point the competition is not set up for an open call. Once we become more established we do intend to accept portfolios for possible inclusion in the event. Should this ever become the case, you'll see it first here.

Don't be disappointed though because there are still other ways to be involved. Interested in volunteering your time or being a sponsor? Are you a vendor that would like the opportunity to distribute your product? This is a big event, and we can use all the help we can get. Please contact us and see how you or your company can get involved and help us raise awareness and money for a good cause.

Otherwise you can just come out and support the cause and see who will take away this year's prize money and champion title.

Balcones Burner Bash 2011 Date Picked!

Get excited because the 2011 Balcones Burner Bash is officially on the calendar for April 16, and we are already planning for the big event. Big is a great way to describe it because it is going to be bigger and better than 2010. All the details aren't worked out, but we hope to open the competition up to artists throughout Texas, raise more money for the Wildflower Center, and perhaps have some additional entertainment elements to be announced. Stay tuned for details as we get them worked out. If you are interested in getting involved or sponsorship opportunities, contact Brooke at bgetter@balconesresources.com.

Thank You!

The first Balcones Burner Bash was a huge success! We cannot thank everyone enough who gave their time, energy and money to the event. We have already started planning for next year. We haven't determined a date yet, but stay tuned for details. Until then, check out this awesome time lapse footage of the event provided courtesy of Stewart Mayer with www.camblock.com.

Carpool or Bike to the Event

Keep the environment in mind when you come out on Saturday to the Balcones Burner Bash. Try carpooling with a group of friends or better yet, enjoy this new spring weather and bike to the event. Every little bit helps to keep down our carbon footprint. We'd love this event to be as green as possible, and it starts with you!

In addition to carpooling and biking, please take advantage of our recycling bins that will be placed throughout the event. We will be recycling aluminum and plastic containers. Those containers will go directly into our recycling program. Talk about a nice closed loop process!

Niz Brings Her Stencils to the Bash

Niz was born in Lima, Peru. She came to the United States for the first time when she was 4 before finally moving to the San Francisco Bay Area when she was 12 years old. Niz's artistic began with educating at-risk youth in California through murals, fliers and zines. Her involvement and passion for graffiti, skateboard and other subcultures like hip hop, reggae and punk rock led her to create art on skateboards and grip tape in 2003. Around the same time, she also began experimenting with stencil art. Her early work was infused with religious themes painted on skateboards with acrylic, while her most recent work has taken the shape of large-scale stenciled portraits on walls and canvas. Niz has stenciled walls and shown her work all over the United States and abroad.

Recent accomplishments include a gallery show at SOMArts Gallery in San Francisco and painting at the Graffitti All-star weekend in Puerto Rico. Her work has been published in several books: Stencil Nation (San Francisco), Heart and Soul (New York), 400ml, Do It Yourself (France) and Austin: East of I 35 (Austin, TX). She has also been featured in several magazines including The Huffington Post, Concrete Wave, Famiglia Magazine and Lucy Magazine. Niz currently resides in Austin, TX.

See Niz's work here:

www.nizgraphics.com

www.myspace.com/Nizgraphics

Other links of interest:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADS5LgC5fo4&feature=related

http://www.lafamigliazine.com/site/I.NIZ.php

DJ Tats

Check out another great talent that is set to perform at the Balcones Burner Bash. DJ Tats is known for his mad turntable skills. See him in action here:

Balcones Burner Bash Flyer

We've been fortunate that so many talented artists want to contribute to the success of the Balcones Burner Bash. This includes the work done on our flyers. These should start popping up all over Austin. Be on the look out for them!

Artist Profile: Jon Booker

Born in sunny Southern California in 1977, Jon first began drawing when he was four. His father a very talented musician, opened his ears to music, which became his first passion. His uncle, Paul Booker, inspired Jon with his art. Paul experimented with a variety of artistic techniques, everything from photography, water colors, oils, to experimental abstract painting. Towards his later years Paul began an experiment with enamels which ultimately influenced Jon's life. Jon used this motivation from his uncle and created a new style based off what he observed. His uncle's artistic exploration ended with arranged statements and expressions of color, Jon's exploration is just beginning.

His foregrounds contain a variety of mediums that both titillate and tantalize the eye with the stark differences of his sustained intensity and brilliant color schemes. This has been known as his "Release Technique." Jon developed another passion, travel. His mother re-married and then relocated his sister and himself to a small, but affluent town in Israel, outside of Tel Aviv. He attended an exclusive school that began to invest time and interest in his drawings, while his family began to respect his unique skill. Jon also began traveling to the Middle East and Europe, seeing some of the world's most historic and beautiful artwork and museums. Each of these places held another fascinating type of art which furthered his artistic exploration, Graffiti.

After returning to the US , Jon spent the next ten years moving from San Francisco to Seattle and then New York. During this time he was exposed to a variety of spray can art. This form of cultural expression and art deeply affected the way Jon used to see his uncle's canvases. Jon felt it was necessary to mix his passion for abstract art with his new passion for graffiti, and then let both collide together in an abstract thought process on either wood or canvas. The early nineties found Jon a new identity, Slie. Now with a knowledge of letters and color from studying graffiti and a developed abstract thought process from his abstract paintings, Jon is very happy to share his art. Jon currently resides in Austin TX.

Accomplishments:

Gold Key Winner in Highest Art Competition in Lubbock

Have hosted artwork in Buddy Holly Art Center & the Lubbock Art Trail

Fortunate to be apart of Emerge Urban Art show and Aerossault

Website: www.jonbookerart.com

Artist Profile: Cody Seigmund

Born in Taylor, Texas, this artist quickly called Austin home. For the past 17 years Cody's main focus has been large scale murals in many styles from traditional hip hop inspired street Graffiti to
skateboarding industry fueled logos, caricatures and letterforms. His art reflects the freedom and peace found in skateboarding, cycling, music, love, life and laughter.

Graffiti Glossary

You probably wondered why our event was called the Balcones Burner Bash especially when you read the description. What does burning have to do with graffiti art? If you asked yourself this question, and you fear you are not hip to the lingo, check out the following site:
http://www.graffiti.org/faq/graffiti.glossary.html.

You'll learn terms like All City, Ding-Dong and Toy. Read up and then test your knowledge out at the event on March 6!

Artist Profile - MESANGER

Over the next few weeks we are going to be profiling the artists who will be taking part in the Balcones Burner Bash competition.

Artist Profile - MESANGER
MESANGER started "serious" graffiti painting in 1997 in west Texas. After a four year run in the desert, he moved to Austin. In an effort to broaden his artistic horizons, he became a member of Austin's local hip hop group, MSG crew. Over the next five years he made many connections in the art and music scene through his work with the MSG crew. These connections allowed MESANGER to expand his art to include more formal settings, like gallery shows and organized music events. MESANGER has been fully immersed in the urban art world. His work has appeared in venues coast to coast, and he is committed to promoting Austin's hip hop scene. He has had the opportunity to paint along side some of the most accomplished artists in the Texas graffiti art world, and he has shared the stage with some of underground hip hop's biggest names. Through all of his experiences in the underground music and art scenes, he gives back to the community through sound and sight as the MESANGER.

ARTSeen Alliance to Join B3 Team

ARTSeen Alliance has graciously agreed to help the B3 team set up for the big event. Their services are essential to putting on a great event. This includes setting up lighting, a sound system, stage equipment, etc. The mission of the ARTSeen Alliance is to connect the people of Austin with art. Here are some bullet points about the organization:

• The ARTSeen Alliance is a diverse core team connected by a growing network of talented artists and visionaries.

• The ARTSeen Alliance believes that everybody inherently wants to participate in creation of art, technology, and new ideas, and that this creative connection supports well being.

• The ARTSeen Alliance produces interactive and unique events blending all forms of art, music, design, media, technology, and sustainability.

• The ARTSeen Alliance creates environments to enhance events of all kinds.

• The ARTSeen Alliance operates venues in Austin that support their mission and are working to open a creative "make - space" for the public to enjoy!

We are thrilled by the support we've seen from the art community. The generosity of ARTSeen Alliance is just another example of this generosity. Check out their website at www.artseenalliance.com to see their good work in the arts.

DJ Tako Sneak Peak

Competition Rules

Although the artists will not be expected to submit your design for the finals, the following rules must be considered:

1) All final artwork must be designed using one or all of these themes:
-Environmental causes – recycling, conservation, sustainability, etc.
-A celebration of Austin/Texas
-Nature
*Murals that do not use one of these themes will be disqualified and will not be considered for any of the cash prizes.

2) There will be a time limit of 5 hours in which to finish the piece. All artwork will be considered complete after the expiration of this time and will be judged accordingly.

3) Montana Hard Core will supply the paint for this event. Any additional paint required by the artist will be the responsibility of the artist. Balcones will provide the canvas in the form of one rail car side measuring 20ft. X 11ft. per finalist.

4) All participants must wear respirators at all times while painting throughout the duration of the competition. Participants will be required to sign a waiver in which they will assume all responsibility for their own safety during the competition.

5) All artwork must be original. It should not be adapted from any existing design or used in other competitions. In the event the design contains copyright materials, participants shall be responsible for securing all relevant and necessary permissions or license to uses these materials. Balcones Resources shall not be responsible for any infringement of copyrights or intellectual property.

6) Balcones Resources reserves the right to remove or disqualify any artwork, which in their opinion, contains malice, discrimination, profanity or is culturally insensitive.

7) The judges will be a pre-selected panel consisting of two artists and two lay person judges. The murals will be judged on the following:
o Relevance to the theme
o Creativity
o Composition
o Technique
o Use of Color

The scores will be tabulated and the winners will be announced on March 6. The cash prizes are as follows:
o First Place - $2500
o Second Place - $1500
o Third Place - $1000

See Sloke One in Action

VIMBY - Sloke One

B3 Artists & Entertainers Announced

The Balcones Burner Bash is dedicated to celebrating the local talent found in Austin. We are proud to announce the artists that will be competing at the Balcones Burner Bash on March 6th. They include

• SLOKE
• SPAIN
• MES
• MEZ
• REKS
• REI
• BLIEF
• SPIK
• GENE PARMESAN
• TIM SCOTT
• CODY SEIGMUND
• SLIE

DJs scheduled to appear include CHORIZO FUNK, SILENT ROB, CAUZE ONE, TAKO, and TATS.

MCs are also going to be a part of the entertainment. MCs who have committed to the event are ZEALE and MSG CREW.

Last but certainly not least, we are so excited to add ROMEO NAVARRO and RECON who present BBOY CITY. They will be wowing the crowd with breakdancing.

It is going to be a fun and interactive event filled with high energy performances and the unique opportunity to see Austin's emerging and outstanding urban artists.

Nathan Nordstrom joins B3 Team

See more work from Nathan and some of the other Burner artists here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/piecedtogether09/sets/72157623122566325/

In order to prepare for this event, Balcones Resources contacted Nathan Nordstrom, a well-known Austin urban artist. Nathan will serve as a consultant for the competition.

Nathan began painting in 1990, and his works and exhibits include teaching "Graffiti as Art" through the City of Austin, The Austin City Hall art show, The Austin Musuem of Art (AMOA), and The Arthouse. Most recently he co-curated and participated in a traveling exhibit of Texas graffiti artists called “Pieced Together” which was held at the Lombardi Gallery in Austin. In addition to Texas, this exhibition toured Los Angeles, New York City, Phoenix and San Francisco. Images from Pieced Together can be seen here: flickr.com/piecedtogether09

Nathan's website is http://www.slokeone.com/.

B3 To Benefit The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Balcones Resources supports environmental causes, and we wanted our new event to benefit an organization that shared this support. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is a natural fit.

All net proceeds from the event will be contributed to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is dedicated to educating the public about the environmental necessity, economic value and natural beauty of native plants and landscapes. In addition to a monetary contribution, Balcones Resources also plans to donate painted recycling containers to the center for use at their facility.

Austin is lucky to the be the site of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. We are spoiled to have such beauty in our backyards, and we hope the money raised by this event will help the center to educate future Texans about their state's natural beauty and precious resources.

The Center's website is www.wildflower.org

Ann Richards School to Participate in B3

Balcones has also partnered with the Ann Richards School for Young Women. Their art classes have been given the opportunity to design and paint their own recycling container. The Ann Richards School, one of the many Austin Independent School District schools serviced by Balcones Recycling, shares the same community values as Balcones Recycling. Though not directly part of the competition, the involvement of the Ann Richards School in this event demonstrates the importance of corporate involvement with local education and the support of the artistic talents of our youth. The container and painting, once completed will be located on the campus of the Ann Richards School, and used for their recycling program. The container will be on display at the competition.