The Crew

We so appreciate our small, committed crew, with all their various abilities and expertises, for helping get Unbound to the Playa in 2022. Another 100+ volunteers have shown up at the studio to help on various parts of the structure. Without all of them this wouldn’t have been realized. Visit the Volunteer page for photos of the gang working.

Jules Nelson-Gal (Rubylaser Jules)

Jules has been a working artist for nearly 20 years. She is a project-based artist, working with photography, collage and printmaking in the San Francisco Bay Area. She repurposes found materials-- with her primary interest in, what she calls, old data—often irrelevant information contained in obsolete formats. The massive number of books being thrown out and pulped is what motivated her to bring Unbound to the Playa. She wants these old books to have one last purpose. She has been going to Burning Man since 2012 and has created art on the Cafe wall for the past 4 years, worked with David Best’s Temple Crew on nine projects, including in Northern Ireland, Washington DC and Parkland FL; and on multiple projects with Michael Garlington. Jules has been on the Burning Man Documentary Photo Team for 4 years and helped design and build the Black Rock Tea Company Theme Camp.

David Nelson-Gal (Scribble)

Scribble has been going to Burning Man since 2012 where he has enjoyed baking for the Black Rock Bakery, managing the Burning Man Census, and building on art crews and theme camps. He worked on Totem of Confessions at Burning Man 2015, on The Spire at the Hermitage Museum & Gardens in Norfolk, VA; and on Paper Arch at the Renwick in Washington DC, all with Michael Garlington. He was part of Dan Sullivan’s Catacomb of Veils, and helped create and build the Black Rock Tea Company theme camp in 2018. In 2019, Dave was project lead and builder of Pedro Loughran’s Pauper’s Ballroom - Stairway to Nothing on Playa. Dave also bakes sourdough bread, writes and works in the tech world.

Peter Loughran (Pedro)

Pedro has been a Burner, building art and Theme Camps on Playa, since 1995. His most recent Burning Man project was the Pauper’s Ballroom - Stairway to Nothing in 2019. His most infamous project was a Lighthouse that caught fire in the City perimeter. Pedro built the Camp Misterioso western salon that hosted many a Playa party and now lives at the Black Rock Tea Company Camp. Pedro builds high-end homes in the default world and has been an essential ingredient to building the Unbound structure. He is raising a second generation of Burners.

Aaron Grail (Ricochet Rabbit)

Aaron is an experienced builders, helping on numerous Art Projects and Theme Camps. On the Unbound Crew, he has been critical not only putting the piece together on playa, but also was the lead in deconstruction AND has been the “Tetris Meister” getting the whole 22 tons of material on a single 42’ flatbed trailer both their and back.

Wayne Sanders / Theresa Harris

Wayne and Theresa have been going to Burning Man since 2007, working first at Media Mecca and joining David Best’s Temple crew in 2014. Wayne loves to build on Playa and after working for 40 years in San Francisco high rise buildings, he can fix just about anything. Theresa is a OB/GYN nurse, having helped birth hundreds of Bay Area babies. She is an excellent cook, making a massive amount of tamales for her camps, and has built with David Best at Burning Man and around the world, including in Northern Ireland; Tibet; Parkland, Florida; and Washington, D.C.. She is bringing a Hot Tamale Cart to Burning Man this year, which should roll through the Unbound Library on occasion.

Betsy Anderson

Betsy, joins the Unbound crew as one of the chief decorating members. As a long time burner, Betsy has served as a crew member on a number of projects including the 2019 Taking Flight sculpture by Nicki Adani, the 2017 Flower Tower with Reared in Steel, and numerous projects with David Best, both on and off Playa, including The Temple at the Smithsonian in Washington DC, and most recently the Temple of Reunion at the Oakland Museum. Betsy also helped Michael Garlington with his 2015 project The Totem of Confessions. Betsy loves to take her dog Happy to the Library where children read to them, or go hear her husband, Jimmy Goings, sing in his band. Betsy worked in the mental health field prior to becoming a full-time burner and builder.

Giulia Hill (Vivara)

Giulia joins the Unbound crew as a decorations “tuttofare”. She went at Burning Man for the first time in 2019 and is very glad to have the opportunity to participate in Unbound whose bibliographic subject particularly resonates with her past work in IT for libraries.  After a couple of decades in software, Giulia is now focusing more on enjoying the great outdoors, working with wood at Habitat for Humanity, and participating in other volunteer work.

Milon Mackey (Milon)

Milon has been to Burning Man twice, in 2019 and way back in 2004. Both times he enjoyed the art projects, and now he's very happy to contribute to one of those projects, Unbound.  Milon grew up on a farm in Nebraska and is a software engineer.  He enjoys reading and lots of outdoor activities.

Ted Schundler (Smarty Pants)

From software to costumes, Ted has always been making things. In past burns, Ted joined the teams of projects such as Bill Evan's Camera Lucida in 2018 and Dave Keane's The Folly in 2019. Ted is helping the Unbound physical build and also CAD & VR. The BRCvr building will be open for touring starting June 12 as part of Burning Man's Desert Arts Preview.

Max Nelson-Gal (Otter)

Max first burned In 2019, where he assisted with electrical work on Nicki Adani’s piece, Taking Flight. He also assisted in building the Black Rock Tea Company theme camp, where he lives on Playa. Max was trained as a mechanical engineer and works at a tech start-up. He lives with his 1-year old golden lab, Duke, and his girlfriend Fred.

Gus Cancro (Gus Gus)

2022 will mark Gus’s third time coming to Burning Man, each time contributing more than the last. Gus cherishes his time in the desert building structures, art and relationships. In the default world, Gus has worked for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission and since 2015 has been a full-time carpenter and educator for Habitat for Humanity in Oakland, CA. Gus

Marie Maniscalco
Marie joins the Unbound team for her second mission to Burning Man, and first as part of an art crew. She's excited to be building again after a nine-month apprenticeship as a natural builder in 2021 working with straw-bales and clay plaster. Her work in the world has followed a spiral path, unwinding the question of what it means to feel truly at home. Marie has worked as a project manager in real estate development and most recently as a planner for a lovely Northern California county. She really does feel at home on the Playa, and is proud to be contributing as part of the Unbound team.

Michael Fasman (Dustin)

Dustin has both worked on the Unbound structure, and helped with support such as managing forms, fundraising, as well as research and coordination for the camp that the Unbound Crew will live on on Playa. Dustin has been the head of the Documentary Photography Team for many years and is the Mayor of The Black Rock Tea Company Theme Camp.

Tobey Nelson-Gal

When Tobey isn’t flying the skies over Turkey, he is analyzing data and working on his Masters in Business Analytics at the University of Denver. The day after he receives his MS he leaves for his first burn to help build Unbound. His main joys involve getting out of his desk chair and playing soccer, camping/backpacking/hiking or paragliding. He is most looking forward to sharing life stories with most anyone at Burning Man.

Rosanna Duenas

Rosie has been going to Burning Man for a several years. She has assisted on Art Builds and Theme Camps.

Dave Washer (Dash)

Dash has worked on numerous temple and other Art projects. In the default world, Dash does Landscape design and Implementation.