Youtopia Spring ~ June 7-11, 2023
Have you heard the good news? YOUtopia has risen from the difficulties of last year. We have a new date! And we have a new venue. So without further ado, the postponed YOUtopia event will be:
Date: June 7-11
Location: Jacumba, CA at the DeAnza Springs Resort
Theme: The Dreamland Menagerie
Your Tickets
The refund period is now closed for October 2022’s postponed event. We encourage you to resell your tickets if you’re unable to make the event.
If you kept your ticket from the October event, it will be honored in full at the Spring 2023 event. It will not roll over to the Fall 2023 event. Thank you for keeping the faith with us and allowing us the space to find a new and better home for YOUtopia.
Additional tickets will be made available after we determine pricing and availability.
The Year Ahead
We have big goals this year and want to have two YOUtopias: The Spring make-up event and then our regular annual regional burn in October. Let’s get this one under our belt first before we start hatching any more chickens.
We are excited to get our community creator space, CoLab, up and running again. Our amazing CoLab team regrouped after we had to move from our Mission Gorge location. We found a smaller space that we can utilize while looking for a permanent spot. The space is adjacent to the Balboa Bar in Bankers Hill, on 5th Avenue, next to Balboa Park. We share the space with the OB Template. Finishing touches are being put on it before it can be open for general use, but expect announcements over the coming months.
We Need You
All of us volunteer to be a part of the community wheel because we have been transformed by our experiences and want to give something back. We are a do-ocracy and the things that get done are the things that people volunteer to get done.
Coming out of the pandemic, we have lost some of our momentum. People move, move on, and find other pursuits that best align with where they are in their lives. We honor that and what they gave while they were here.
But there are always new people with a new vision that can build on what came before and we want to welcome them to participate. If that feels like you, reach out to us and we’ll find the right place to involve you. The pay sucks, but the experience is great.
The five spokes in our community wheel
- YOU are the spirit of the community. And YOUtopia gives all of us the opportunity to step into our creative selves. We transform from what is expected of us into what we can be. Art creates the opportunity for others to step into our experience and see what we can see. YOUtopia art grants are offered to help you manifest your vision.
- Theme Camps are the manifestation of our gifts to the community. This is where our bonds are strengthened in the pursuit of common purpose. And this is the way we invite the stranger into our lives. Theme Camp applications will be open soon.
- YOUtopia is the canvas upon which we express our best selves and hope for the future. It is our opportunity to shine and share as a community. Volunteering is your opportunity to pay it forward and back. Your ticket also tangibly supports the expenses that make this brilliant art machine run year around.
- CoLab is the workshop for our souls, where we provide free/at-cost classes and tool access to YOU. The machinery and wisdom that you could never buy is on tap. And the joy of collaboration, mentoring and learning overflows for those who are willing to get their hands dirty.
- SDCAP is where we hide the creative spreadsheet artist–those people who hear the phrase 501c(3) non-profit fiduciary and get a little tingle. The board is the legal entity that manages CoLab and YOUtopia with our government names and our button up shirts. We’re seriously fun.
Needs for volunteers right now
- If you are interested in more on-the-ground help at the event, visit the volunteers page and apply now!
- The SDCAP Board is recruiting people who are great at having constructive discussions on difficult community issues. It is even better if you have an area of specific expertise, such as a legal background or fundraising. We are a professional organization with legal fiduciary responsibilities to the community and the government. If you are serious about creating the infrastructure that lets the art happen, send an email to bod@sdcap.org.
- If you are interested in helping with SD Colab by lending your skills to teach classes or set up collaborative arts projects or to be part of the general volunteer crew, please reach out to info@sdcolab.org.
Can we do better?
As volunteers, we donate our time, skills, effort, heart, and soul to the community that we believe in. This gives us many gifts, including the opportunity to feel of service to the community and an opportunity to flourish in ways that we may never get in the default world. We hope that our contributions will be valued and that our efforts will be met with respect. However, we have heard that we can do better as an organization and are looking to find the best ways to create a sustainable volunteer community that feels valued. We are listening.
In the same way that we can improve as an organization, we can also improve as a community. It is dispiriting to see accusations posted on social media. There are real people doing hard work behind each insult. Please remember that every year brings fresh talent to our production team who deserve the chance to prove themselves without carrying the sins of their predecessors. Moving forward, in order to be more constructive when we see a need for change, bring your specific concern to community leadership by emailing feedback@sdcap.org. Don’t cast rocks at strangers from the dark. Become part of the solution.
Final Thoughts
Let’s take a moment to remind ourselves why we are here. Let our best light come out so we can be our best selves. This community is amazing and capable of creating the coolest, weirdest stuff. Let’s hug it out, realize how much we enjoy each other, and come back together as a community that loves and supports one another.
One of our brightest lights, Denise Lozano, was lost recently. She was an integral part of the CoLab team, always driving us as a community to do better and show up for others in ways we hadn’t considered. Her life demonstrated the intersectionality of what our best aspirations could be. She was a part of many communities, giving fully to each, and connecting them with each other. Her loss will not only be felt by us, but by the people she brought us in touch with. In her honor, let us find ways to reach out to those who aren’t just Burners, but who could be transformed by the experiences we have had.
If you want to see people IRL, we do meet-ups the first Wednesday of the month at the Redwing. Bring a friend who you think would add to our community, but may not come on their own. If you’ve been on the sidelines of the community, jump in. The water is warm. And if you have drifted away from the community, come back in with a fresh perspective and see what we’re trying to create.
Thank you for your continued participation in the San Diego Burning Man Community. The leadership of SDCAP, YOUtopia and CoLab are looking forward to an amazing new year and want you to be a part of it.
The State of Our YOUnion is good and getting better and better.
Your hardworking team,
Cable (SDCAP President, PLT), Cecile (CoLab and PLT), Diane (CoLab and PLT), Emily (YOUtopia PLT), Jeff (YOUtopia PLT), Katie (CoLab), Nicole (SD Burning Man Regional Contact), Reva (CoLab), Richard (YOUtopia PLT), Thomas (CoLab), Trish (Trixxy) (SDCAP Treasurer), Vic (Jolly Rancher) (CoLab Managing Director, SDCAP)
