The Firefly Arts Collective Board of Directors is comprised of the following members:
Voting Members:
- Tristan Brown (tristan@fireflyartscollective.org)
- Jon Evans (jon@fireflyartscollective.org)
- Jered Floyd (jered@fireflyartscollective.org)
- Iva Gishin (iva@fireflyartscollective.org)
- Meytal Kotik (meytal@fireflyartscollective.org)
- Carly Nix (carly@fireflyartscollective.
org) - Peter Salomone (pete@fireflyartscollective.org)
- Dan Snyder (dan@fireflyartscollective.org)
For general Firefly questions, please email: info@fireflyartscollective.org
To contact the Firefly Board of Directors, please email: board@fireflyartscollective.org
Board Member Bios
Tristan Brown
Tristan first attended Firefly in 2013 and since then has camped with a variety of camps and helped with various aspects of the event. They have also been attending NECTR since 2014 and Burning Man since 2022. Outside of burns, they are a scientist, musician, and overall hobby collector. They are always looking for interesting science demonstrations that could be presented in interesting and engaging ways at burns.
Jon Evans
Jon’s first Firefly was in 2011, and he returned in 2012 to found The Universe theme camp, which he’s been bringing back to the woods every year since. When he’s not camping, he works as an electrical engineer (currently building 3D printers) and has used those skills to collaborate with other Fireflies on various LED art installations over the years. He’s also active with the organization of the NECTR regional burn, where among other duties he leads the Ranger core. When not working on circuits, he enjoys playing music, cooking, brewing delicious beverages, and cycling.
Jered Floyd
After hearing about Burning Man for years, Jered’s first burns were Firefly and Burning Man in 2006. At Burning Man, he organized both Kamp Kaos and The Hive village from 2011 through 2018, and became both a member of the Firefly Board of Directors and a Burning Man Regional Contact in 2013. With a background in technology and management, Jered likes building robust, complex, useful systems out of bits, atoms, and/or people (with their consent), and supports most of the extended Boston Burner community IT infrastructure behind the scenes. He enjoys helping create the opportunity for our community to welcome new participants, experiment, create, amaze, and expand the impact of our principles at the event and beyond. At Firefly, Jered can typically be found cooking over the campfire at Meat Camp.
Iva Gishin
Iva first attended Firefly in 2014 and had no idea what to expect as she’d never been to a burn before. She took to it like fish to water and has arrived early, left late and not missed a single work weekend since. Iva joined DPW in 2016, became Core Co-Lead in 2018, and additionally took on the role of Infrastructure Cluster Lead starting 2022. When not running around doing other things, she loves to help Joed and the Bug team. During the event you will probably find Iva if you swing by the DPW. Iva enjoys collaborating with or helping folks on a variety of art projects large and small, and has worked on unique deco for a number of Camp Lamp fundraiser events over the years.
Meytal Kotik
Meytal first attended Firefly in 2007 after hearing about it from new friends and having total FOMO. The following year, she returned to VT and made her first track to Black Rock City with camp KAOS. Meytal has volunteered for many Firefly cores and taken on roles such as Volunteer Coordinator and Kitchen Cafe Co-lead. Meytal enjoys cooking (which is lucky, as she is a chef) and can be seen handing out bites at Cabana Hammock’s BBB. She loves connecting with members of the community, new and old, and enjoying new woods with her dog.
Carly Nix
Carly’s first burn was Firefly in 2015. She returned as a co-lead of the Mush Room for 4 years and a main collaborator on Amanita musicalia (the big glowing sound-reactive mushroom sculptures), for which she and collaborator Chris Chronopoulos received 2 Firefly art grants. She’s been to 10 burns so far, including her first big burn in 2019 with Electric Koolaid in the Hive. At Firefly she’s also helped out with bug builds, the Steam Bath Project and consent initiatives. In default world her day job is running HR for a tech startup in Somerville. She was formerly a radio producer for NPR’s Car Talk, director of Industry Lab coworking space and art gallery where she founded their artist-in-residence program, and a steering committee member of an anarchist community media center and radio station. Outside of work and Firefly, her biggest passions are making art, community building, and connecting with nature.
Dan Snyder
Dan has been a Firefly since 2008. He’s helped design and build many Bugs, along with one Firefly temple and one Goat; and also worked on effigies for Frostburn and NECTR. You may have seen him at every work weekend since 2012. Dan’s been on the Board for six years and Ticket Core for nearly as long; he helped found the Conduct Committee and Festival Committee. In addition to being a hippie, Dan is a scientist and a midwesterner. He camps with Little Winter Hill at Firefly, and KAOS at BRC, typically because he got suckered into building big art.
Pete Salomone
Pete is a relative n00b, having first been to Firefly in 2017. In that time Pete has founded a camp, led a camp at NECTR, and made the pilgrimage to Black Rock City in 2019 in addition to ranger-ing and serving on the Firefly Communications Committee. You may have seen Pete insisting that you take some spicy mayonnaise with a breakfast sandwich, making coffees at The Universe’s cafe, spending far too long in the steam bath, or leading a group of chanting cultspeople down the main path.