White, stylized logo showing a partial sun with curved rays above the word APOGAEA, reminiscent of Colorados own Burning Man event. The design is minimalistic and centered on a black background.

Apogaea 2025: Seed $$ Grant Winners Announced!

Apogaea is excited to announce the winners of the 2025 seed money grant round!  Read on for more… and KEEP MAKING ART!

An interactive sculpture for Apogaea 2025 features a tall metal pole with colorful panels and integrated overhead lights, casting detailed patterns on the wall. Participants can change the light settings using a steel-colored hexagon to create new abstract shadows.

SHADOW WORK

Matt Feeney

SHADOW-WORK is a steel and multimedia shadow casting tower. The work consists of a triangular center column with moveable sculpture elements and pyramidal top canopy containing lights for shadow generation.

Illustration of a cable-tensioned disco ball mechanism designed for Apogaea 2025. The setup features an aircraft cable, mounting plate, disco ball motor, and disco plate adorned with a vibrant placeholder pattern that captures the festivals spirit.

The Disco Disc Dancefloor

Alex Kaufman

The Disco Disc Dancefloor is a celebration of the good times before they disappear forever—one final, dazzling party at the edge of oblivion. Suspended from above, a mirrored acrylic disc catches beams of light, scattering moving and grooving projections onto the landscape below.

A tent adorned with hanging rubber chickens and a pink pig toy sets the whimsical scene at Apogaea 2025. A patterned rug lies on the grass, with a small table displaying various items. Overhead lighting enhances the festive nighttime ambiance of this outdoor gathering.

Squeak Around and Find Out

Abigail Robles Membrez

"Squeak Around and Find Out" is an interactive tactile sound sculpture. Participants are encouraged to interact with each squeak. This brings out an inner childlike joy in participants that experience it.

A sketch of a theater setup for Apogaea 2025 showcases a Cardboard Playhouse. It features a Front stage area with seating and stage 14x10, a Backstage area curtained off 6x10, and an entry way marked on the left, promising an unforgettable creative experience.

The Cardboard Playhaus

Rose Steep

Just when you thought Apo couldn’t get any more lowbrow, the Cardboard Playhaus brings it down a notch. This glorified children’s fort will host satirical Shakespeare, puppet talent shows and everyone’s favorite Puppy Musical.

Two hand-drawn sketches on paper. The left sketch shows a heart-shaped container with arrows highlighting gifts inside and wood. The right sketch features a box labeled SOCIAL LUBRICATION, surrounded by notes, hinting at Apogaea 2025s creative spirit.

Heart Opening Social Lubrication

Dave Chadwell

At the heart (literally) of this installation stands a giant upcycled tin can heart, worn with time, filled with surprises, and bursting with the spirit of gifting. With roughly 175 openings, this weathered relic of love invites participants to reach in and discover small tokens meant to uplift, nourish, and spark joy.

A drawing of a table with an infinity mirror box on top, labeled true mirror infinity mirror box, captures the futuristic essence of Apogaea 2025. Four geometric shapes with infinity mirrors hang from cords around it, powered by a connected power bank, and are marked as infinity mirror shapes.

InfinitEyes

Bhavana Jonnalagadda

Beautiful yet hauntingly creepy 3D infinity mirrors, in 3D weird shapes and covered in eyeballs, hang in the trees and line an LED pathway leading up to an infinity mirror box. When you look in, it is a true mirror (your reflection but reversed) that is ALSO an infinity mirror, with eyes that you slowly notice are inscribed all over it!

A person holding a child points at a multicolored, illuminated cat sculpture on a table at Apogaea 2025. The artwork, adorned with intricate patterns and symbols, shines brilliantly against the night. In the dark background, boating masts stand silently under the stars.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Cats?

Hapto

A large, light up mirrored cat sculpture covered in images that represent the dreams cats may have and represents the dreams that the Steel Tigerlillies (women-led sculpture collective) has for each other.

A sketch depicts a person at a desk beneath a large circle connected by lines to 15 numbered boxes, some displaying 0, 1, or ?. The structure suggests an interconnected network or control system, reminiscent of Apogaea 2025s innovative design concepts.

The Disco Dystopia Stage at Camp GlamAggedon

Chas Saulsbury

This project will be a centerpiece of the 2025 “Glam-a-geddon Camp.” This medium-sized sound (+ art camp), is known for their shape shifting identity and has come to Apogaea in many, many iterations - from Gnomies to Ju-Ju Manji. You know them, you love them, you can’t forget Thursday night. We can’t wait to see what they do next.

A wooden Viking ship replica with shields on the side sits atop a painted blue tarp resembling waves, proudly displayed outside a gray event center. A few steps lead up to the ship under the clear blue sky, inviting guests to imagine their own Apogaea 2025 adventure.

Fable Bound

Nathan Koral

Fable Bound is a wooden Viking long ship hovering over the Playa that appears to be riding ocean waves. It was constructed in 2024 and installed as an Honorarium project at Burning Man.

Hand-drawn sketch titled Dystopian Disco Diner shows an imaginative interior with a futuristic, dome-shaped archway reminiscent of Apogaea 2025. The scene is colorful, featuring abstract designs and a disco ball in shades of blue, purple, green, and pink on dotted paper.

Dystopian Disco Diner + Art Wasteland

Ian Bates, Ambra Lyons, Courtney Stone, Chrystal Goltra + Lauren Rainen

At the end of the long slide of civil society remains one last diner to catch a dystopian dinner, and to groove to the last vestiges of pre-AI DJs spinning tunes for dancers amongst a garden of former-world burn art salvaged from Burner basements far and wide.

A glowing jellyfish-shaped light fixture, reminiscent of Apogaea 2025s artistic flare, hangs in a dimly lit space. The translucent material, illuminated in pink and purple hues, has a textured, icicle-like appearance. Black cords hold the fixture, creating a mystical ambiance.

Squish Garden

Alex Maki-Jokela + Chrystal Goltra
“Official Bean $$ Grant Recipient” !!

We are creating a garden of interactive alien plants with jiggly squishy glowing interactive nectar coming out of their crowns. There will be one large plant with three legs, roughly 3 feet tall, with a motion-sensing tactile squishy orb ~16" in diameter, squeezed into a 12" diameter steel hemisphere.

Sketch of a vintage sewing machine drawn with orange pencil. The machine features decorative details and a visible thread mechanism. A stylized flame, reminiscent of Apogaea 2025s creative spirit, appears above, adding an artistic touch.

FANTOM PUF: The Magnificent Needle of Pyro Fury and Unstoppable Flames

Monica Herr & Torch Mouth

This larger-than-life sculpture is a fusion of art, humor, and interactivity, combining Monica’s passions for sewing and welding. The piece will feature an antique-style desk and sewing machine atop a custom-built sculpture stand, with an accumulator positioned beneath. The sculpture will house a functional sewing machine, providing space for a stitcher to climb inside and operate it.

A 3D render depicts a faceless humanoid figure giving a thumbs-up to a large, smiling face wearing a blue knit beanie, set against Apogaea 2025s signature hexagonal tile pattern. Dimensions are marked on the image, capturing the futuristic aesthetic.

Yourselves

Mike Lustig

Yourselves is a 6'8" diameter parabolically focused mirror assemblage that will show participants 157 instances of their full face from a distance of 8'. At a distance of 4' a participant would be able to see a giant magnified version of their face that will be fill the entire 6'8" array.

In the desert landscape of Apogaea 2025, a large sculpture resembling a scorpion with tractor-like wheels commands attention. Its segmented tail and pincers stand starkly against the blue sky, with majestic mountains looming in the background.

Catherine the Effigy

Evan Beloni + Caitlin Morris

Some additional funding for our effigy performance + costuming for what is sure to be a very memorable show!

A hand-drawn diagram on lined paper labeled Robert Ellsworth, Two Sheets of Plywood, envisions an 8x8-foot area for a Kick the Bucket game. With annotations like Imagine Dexter Snark Responses and “Apogaea 2025,” it hints at a playful twist on classic carnival gaming fun.

Games

Robert Ellsworth

Plywood, a very large bell, and angels + demons. Participate in this social experiment and potentially win.

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