While Houston Art Collective (“HAC”) was founded in the spring of 2018, many of its projects have been active as far back as 2016 while housed in Houston Burners, another local 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. A brief history of our efforts is listed below.
2019
- April 2019–The Burning Man Houston project holds its first weekly Thermal Thursday community gathering at our new warehouse
- April 2019–HAC holds its 3rd Annual Burning Man Ticket Main Sale
Conference Call to help new burners navigate the confusing sale process - April 2019–HAC signs an agreement with The Interchange performance art space to launch a warehouse for the non-profit
- March 2019–HAC holds its 3rd Annual All About Burning Man meetup, an introductory information session for folks wanting to attend Burning Man for the first time
- February 2019–HAC holds its first annual Presidents’ Day Campout
- February 2019–HAC launches the Burning Man Houston community outreach and community building project
2018
December 2018–HAC completes the spin-out of its assets and projects from Houston Burners- November 2018–HAC’s Houpla theme camp attends the Texas Renaissance Festival
- October 2018–HAC receives approval from the IRS for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status
- October 2018–HAC holds its first open board meeting
- October 2018–HAC launches its website
- September 2018–HAC launches its Facebook page
- September 2018–HAC sees two new board members, Mason Hill and Anthony Marban, added as directors. Mason Hill also joins as an officer
- September 2018–Houpla hosts its Burning Man decompression party at Kinda Super Disco
- August 2018–Houpla, the Art Car, and the Houston Burning Man Community Truck all participate in Burning Man. Houpla’s interactivity elements are breakfast tacos served each morning, a “hoopla” ring toss game with 3D-printed and laser-cut necklaces as prizes, and a large painted cutout wall for photos. This year’s Art Car design is called Come On Baby Lick My Battery and sees the car transformed into a large, 9-volt battery
- May 2018–Houpla and the BBQ Team attend Burning Flipside, an Austin-area regional burn
- March 2018–Houpla again hosts its Burning Man Ticket Main Sale Conference Call to help people through the ticket buying process
- March 2018–Houpla, the Art Car, and the BBQ Team all attend Unbroken Spring, a Houston-area regional burn
- March 2018–Houpla again hosts its All About Burning Man meetup
- February 2018–Houston Art Collective founded as an eventual new home for the Houpla, Art Car, Community Truck, and BBQ Team projects.
2017
October 2018–Houpla hosts its first Burning Man decompression party- August 2018–Houpla, the Art Car, and the Community Truck projects all participate in Burning Man, camping together. Houpla’s interactivity is a stickhorse equestrian course with homemade stickhorses. This year’s Art Car design is called Tree of Life and features a large PVC and fabric tree surrounded by bushes
- March 2018–Houpla hosts its first Burning Man Ticket Main Sale Conference Call to help people through the ticket buying process
- March 2018–Houpla hosts its first All About Burning Man meetup, an introductory information session for folks wanting to attend Burning Man for the first time
2016
September 2016–Houpla is conceived during decompression from Burning Man- August 2016–Our Art Car attends its first Burning Man as part of the now-defunct Houphoria theme camp. This initial design is called Up 2: Electric Boogaloo and features a replica of Da Vinci’s aerial screw
- June 2016–work begins on the first version of our Art Car as its base vehicle, a 1995 Chevy Tahoe, is purchased
- June 2016–Houston Burners founded, in part to house the Art Car project