A Global Initiative for Radical Inclusion, Accessible Creativity, and Blind/Low Vision Authorship

Vision Blind Burners exists to unlock the full creative power and authorship of blind and low vision artists, technologists, and community members. What began as a friendship group formed at Burning Man is now a growing international movement catalysing change across participatory arts, digital creativity, and accessible design. Our mission emerged in Black Rock City — where deep connection, shared joy, and radical experimentation opened up new pathways for inclusion. From there, we extended our focus into real-world challenges like inaccessible creator tools and the need for sustainable career pathways in creative industries.

We are also passionate about opening up access to “Burner-adjacent” spaces and practices — from maker spaces and creative workshops to somatic therapies, ecstatic dance, meditation, Tantra, conscious kink, and safe psychedelic exploration. These spaces, communities and practices are often sites of growth, healing, and transformation, yet remain largely inaccessible to blind and low vision people. Blind Burners seeks to change that — making space for new ways of sensing, creating, and belonging.

Our mission is rooted in the power of visually impaired creativity, and the belief that radical inclusion means nothing without accessibility. We aim to remove systemic barriers to blind and low vision participation, to champion non-visual ways of sensing, and to inspire cultural transformation through connection, art, and innovation.

Current Focus Areas

1. Black Rock City: Inclusion on Playa

Burning Man is where Blind Burners began and remains at the heart of our mission. In 2025 and beyond, we are working to:

• Raise awareness, communicate Burning Man’s culture, and address practical concerns. Many blind and low vision people have never considered that Burning Man might be for them. We aim to change that by clearly communicating what Burning Man is, how it works, and what it feels like to be there. Through storytelling, peer conversations, accessible guides, and creative outreach, we support people in asking and answering their most pressing questions — “Will I be safe? How do I get there? What about food, shelter, social connection, or bathrooms?” We meet people where they are, and help them imagine themselves at Burning Man — not as a stretch, but as a possibility within reach.
• Support blind and low vision attendance through a “Hub & Spoke” model. Our “hub” is our base camp with Mobility Camp, a long-established, accessibility-focused camp located near Center Camp in Black Rock City. Mobility Camp hosts Blind Burners as a “camp within a camp,” providing proximity to vital infrastructure and a supportive environment while we develop our skills to eventually build and manage our own infrastructure. This is also the site where we will ship and operate our Reno-based container, which will house a stock of ShiftPods, Hexayurts, tents, bicycles (including tandems), and shade structures — enough basic kit for approximately 10 blind burners. The “spokes” are other camps across the city where blind and low vision participants may choose to camp — from yoga camps to music or food camps. Just because we are blind doesn’t mean we should camp only in the designated disability camp. Whether someone decides to camp with Blind Burners at Mobility Camp, or with another theme camp that shares their interests, we provide onboarding, peer support, and access to infrastructure to help them succeed. This includes tents, bikes, tandem bikes, and shade — enabling blind and low vision participants to bring their whole selves to the playa.
• Foster artistic participation and culture-shifting presence. Burning Man is ultimately about art — and blind and low vision participants should not be limited to conversations about accessibility. Our goal is to create the conditions in which blind and low vision Burners can bring their full, distinctive contributions to the playa — not as guests, but as artists, performers, builders, and changemakers. — whether that’s an art installation, an immersive performance, or an unforgettable shared meal. Disability communities have long been sources of cultural innovation, and our presence is no different. While our short-term focus is on removing barriers to participation, our long-term goal is to create space for artistic excellence and leadership. In the Blind Burners mini-camp, we hope to provide a foundation for blind and low vision artists to thrive — from blind theatre directors bringing unique productions, to cabaret performers from intersecting queer and disability communities, to chefs, welders, DJs, and builders. This work also offers a space of rehabilitation and rediscovery for those newly experiencing sight loss: a chance to reclaim joy and power by DJing a party, teaching acro yoga, preparing a gourmet meal, or leading the construction of an ambitious art car.

2. Reno & Nevada: Infrastructure for Impact

To sustain and scale participation, we are building a physical base and community in Reno:

At the heart of this vision is our shipping container project, located at a cooperative burner yard near the beautiful Truckee River. This 20-foot container is more than just storage — it’s a project in its own right, and a prototype for radically accessible infrastructure. Our central vision is that this container will allow someone with no usable vision to independently lead the Blind Burners camp, managing the build and strike process with confidence and ease. It will be a pleasure to navigate — a thoughtful, artful, and functional space designed with blind leadership in mind.

We also envision using the site to practice key camping skills — such as pitching and striking tents and shade structures — as blind and low vision campers we can arrive on playa with hands-on experience and confidence already under our belt. This preparation supports the ultimate goal of enabling blind and low vision Burners to participate in all aspects of camp life, from setup to teardown, with autonomy and in leadership.

The container’s exterior will be transformed into a platform for art — painted murals, tactile panels, and interactive works that can be touched and experienced non-visually. It will serve as a gathering point and learning hub for blind and low vision artists and participants.

The yard itself is a community nexus where numerous Burning Man camps prepare their infrastructure during the months leading up to the event. This creates a natural opportunity for blind and low vision community members from the Nevada area to visit, engage with artists, learn new skills, and share their own.

In turn, the presence of blind and disabled artists at the yard will offer sighted burners and artists a chance to experience diverse perspectives, learn about accessibility, and participate in a culture of mutual support. The yard becomes both a practical base and a site of radical exchange — artistic, cultural, and infrastructural.

We are also:

• Making camping infrastructure e.g. tandem bikes and camping equipment available for off-playa use by local Reno blind and low vision groups.
• Hosting creative, inclusive community events in partnership with the Nevada Center for Independent Living.
• Piloting accessible movement workshops, accessible white water kayaking, and more.

3. Off Playa: Creative Advocacy & Systems Change

Blind Burners works year-round to dismantle systemic barriers in the creative industries, particularly in digital tools and environments. Our three strands of activity:

3.1 Creative Projects:

We create art to provoke, challenge, and transform established cultural forms and user interfaces that privilege the visual. Our goals are to increase representation of visually impaired talent — both in front of and behind the scenes — and to create beautiful, boundary-pushing work that resonates across communities.

• Our first creative projects were in virtual reality, emerging in 2020 when much of the Burning Man community moved online during the COVID lockdowns. As excitement grew around virtual connection and hyper-visual fidelity, few stopped to ask how blind or low vision people would access these new shared spaces. So, rather than respond with a legal letter under the Americans with Disabilities Act, we responded with a VR art gallery — featuring work by blind and low vision artists from around the world, each piece accompanied by audio descriptions recorded by the artists themselves. The gallery was fully navigable without eyesight, using a series of musical earcons.
• We also built a tongue-in-cheek “Temple of Accessibility” — riffing on the Burning Man tradition while calling out the irony of inaccessible platforms dominating supposedly inclusive digital spaces. Our most ambitious early work was a galactic sound trail: a meditative, immersive sonic journey through the solar system featuring ambient soundscapes by blind composer Dave Leo Baker, culminating in an interactive VR gong bath representing the sun.
• These works were created in direct response to the inaccessibility of AltspaceVR — a platform used for Burning Man’s digital burns that was completely unusable with screen readers. To their credit, Altspace and its parent company Microsoft responded with curiosity and openness, offering an example of how art can shift organisations. This body of work demonstrates the power of visually impaired creativity to not only access culture, but to transform it.
• We’re building momentum to include more artists from blind and low vision communities, and collaborators from several artistic disciplines, to catalyse an expanding series of artistic experiments. We’d love to build ambitious art on the playa, to bring some innovations in audio, and maybe even a fire breathing art car.

3.2 Careers in Creative Industries:

• Pursuing a career in the creative industries is both highly desirable and intensely competitive. For blind and low vision individuals, the journey is further complicated by systemic barriers, including inaccessible digital tools and a lack of representation. Blind Burners is committed to dismantling these obstacles by facilitating access to industry events and fostering meaningful connections.
• Our delegations to events like Develop: Brighton exemplify this commitment. By pairing blind and low vision aspiring game developers with sighted guides, we ensure participants can navigate conferences, attend sessions, and engage in networking opportunities with confidence. These experiences are crucial for building the knowledge, relationships, and self-belief necessary to thrive in the industry.
• We recognize the importance of mentorship and aim to collaborate with existing schemes such as Limit Break and Into Games to provide ongoing support. Our goal is to create an environment where blind and low vision creatives can envision and pursue diverse roles—be it as software engineers, game designers, sound artists, or HR professionals—without the hindrance of accessibility barriers.
• By championing inclusivity and advocating for accessible tools and practices, Blind Burners strives to open doors for visually impaired talent, ensuring they have the opportunity to contribute meaningfully to the creative industries — not just in gaming, but also in fields like film, music, theatre, and design. We want blind and low vision creatives to have real pathways into these spaces, where their artistry and insight can shape the culture from within.

3.3. Community Meetups

• We’re building a global network of inclusive meetups (piloted in London) focused initially on video gaming, and now expanding to showcase somatic practices such as acro yoga, and sports such as white water kayaking.

4. Theory of Change

Blind Burners operates at the intersection of art and advocacy. Our theory of change is simple:

• Art reveals truth – We make visible the creative capacity of blind and low vision people, and the visible and invisible barriers they may face. We create art that challenges visual dominance, highlights non-visual creativity, and invites audiences to rethink their assumptions.
• Infrastructure enables agency – From a tactile-friendly shipping container to audio-led VR worlds, we prototype environments where blind and low vision leadership is not only possible but joyful and powerful.
• Community multiplies power – We connect creators, technologists, and supporters to build shared infrastructure. We foster shared learning spaces — online and in physical hubs — where disabled and non-disabled people come together, develop skills, and build mutual support.
• Experience shifts perception – When people see and feel our events, their expectations shift. When blind and low vision artists show up as DJs, builders, chefs, dancers, and directors, culture itself evolves. What seemed “impossible” becomes routine.
• Culture shifts systems– Inclusion, once felt as joy and connection, becomes non-negotiable. Through documentation, public art, and industry partnerships, we scale what we learn — influencing platforms, policies, and practices far beyond the playa.

---

Next Steps and Call to Action

In 2025, Blind Burners will focus on deepening our roots and broadening our reach. Our goals include:

• Expanding our presence at Burning Man with more blind and low vision participants, stronger infrastructure, and impactful civic and art projects.
• Establishing our Reno base as a year-round access and creativity hub for blind and low vision artists and campers.
• Developing our shipping container project into a fully replicable, blind-led model of accessible, art-forward camp infrastructure.
• Securing fiscal sponsorship or 501(c)(3) nonprofit status in the United States to support growth and funding access.
• Launching a global series of creative meetups, bridging gaming, VR, somatic practices, and inclusive art-making.
• Expanding our advocacy around accessible creator tools and digital authorship, working to influence game engines, platforms, and software providers.

We are actively seeking:

• Funders – to support travel, art builds, access tech, and the infrastructure that makes creativity possible.
• Volunteers – we need to build our comms team, so comms strategists, video editors, copywriters, campaign managers, and social media experts.
• Partners – in VR, gaming, disability justice, creative education, and Burning Man communities.

Let’s build a future where our blind and low vision creativity is not a novelty — but part of the creative mainstream.

📩 Contact: chris@blindburners.com
🌐 Website: www.blindburners.com

Blind Burners: Burning Bright With Not Much Sight
A registered Community Interest Company (UK). U.S. nonprofit status in progress.