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Five Ton Crane Arts

@fivetoncrane

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We did it! 🫛✨A 50-foot beanstalk, fabricated in 3 months, raised on playa in 10 days, and climbed by thousands of you.

Between endless dust, surprise rain, and repairs on the fly, it wasn't the easiest year out there. But every time someone came down from the top with wide eyes, we remembered why we built it.

The beanstalk saw weddings, proposals, musicians playing from its balconies, a morning just for kids and families, and even inspired a children's book. 💚

Thank you to everyone who donated, volunteered, climbed, and believed in this.

Art like this only happens with a community coming together to make the magic. This piece is a @seanorlandoartist sculpture, in Partnership with @fivetoncrane artists collective, created with over 50 artists and volunteers, and fabrication by @engineered_artworks Before heading to playa, it was built at @seaportartstudios in Richmond, CA.

The beanstalk's next chapter is coming. Stay tuned. 🌱

And thank you to all of the photographers who captured our sculpture. Here are a few of our favorite vertical images.

📸 Photo Credits
1. @ryan1oftus
2. @roshi_littlelight
3. @ryan1oftus
4. @autobiographica
5. @roshi_littlelight by @fivetoncrane

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16 days ago

@thegothicfolly by @alexnoerpel and @keenehunter

#burningman #burningman2026 #playaart by @fivetoncrane

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a month ago

Whiteout doesn’t stop anyone here 💨

#burningman2026 #playaart #burningman by @fivetoncrane

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a month ago

Lookout! is a 48-foot-tall fire lookout tower. You can watch most of the fire from here ❤️‍🔥

#burningman #burningman2026 #playaart #burningmanart #blackrockcity taken in Burning Man by @fivetoncrane

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2 months ago

"When Richmond installation artist Sean Orlando was growing up in Long Island, he spent hours inside of the backyard treehouse his father had built for him and his siblings. It was a place to daydream, to fantasize about other worlds, filling him with a sense of whimsy and wonder.

Orlando, now a parent himself, hasn’t lost his childlike imagination and penchant for creating new worlds, tapping it as inspiration for an art career spanning more than two decades.

His latest piece under construction at Seaport Studios in south Richmond is a 50-foot interactive metal treehouse filled with magical objects. Titled Above & Below, the immersive sculpture will make its debut at this year’s Burning Man festival"

New article out in @richmondside by Karina Ioffee!

Photo Credit: Tyger Ligon for Richmondside

#burningman #burningmanart taken in Seaport Studios by @fivetoncrane

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3 months ago

Above & Below is a deeply personal piece, a sculptural self-portrait of the artist. It imagines the life of an inventor and maker who creates a magnificent and otherworldly shelter for himself and his daughter.

The relationship portrayed in the narrative mirrors Lead Artist Sean Orlando’s own experience of building a world rooted in wonder, storytelling, and community for his daughter to grow in and be held by.

The installation reflects a world nurtured by curiosity and care, an environment rich with art, invention, and play. It draws from a life and career devoted to building imaginative spaces, where interactivity, immersiveness, and a sense of discovery are always at the center. Above & Below is a place where art is a lived value, and community creativity is the built foundation of all of our experiences.

Interested in helping this come to life? Links to donate and volunteer in bio.

#burningman #burningman2026 #bigart by @fivetoncrane

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6 months ago

Last night we gathered to kick off Above & Below! Artists, builders, longtime collaborators, and new friends all showed up, excited to make something magical together - it was really lovely!

This project is a big one. This world we’re building will take a lot of hands, a lot of skills, and a lot of love to bring to life.

If it speaks to you, we’d love to have you be part of it!

🔥 donate to help fund the build + bring it to the playa 🔥

🛠 volunteer and come build with us 🛠

Links in bio to get involved. Let’s see what we can make together! by @fivetoncrane

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6 months ago

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6 months ago

It’s official. Above & Below has been selected as a Burning Man Honoraria installation!

Created by Sean Orlando with fabrication by Engineered Artworks and produced in partnership with Five Ton Crane, this new large-scale work continues a long exploration of immersive, story-driven environments -- spaces built for curiosity, connection, and wonder.

Rising 40 feet above the playa, the piece will connect two worlds: a dreamlike home on the ground and a luminous cottage in the sky.

More details to come, but for now, we are delighted to be bringing this bit of magic to the playa this year!

#burningman #burningmanhonoraria #burningman2026 #largescaleart #largescalesculpture

@seanorlandoartist @fivetoncrane @engineered_artworks @burningman by @fivetoncrane

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7 months ago

Behind every big artwork is a team that believes in artists, collaboration, and community. Five Ton Crane is guided by people who bring deep experience in arts management, fabrication, and who have helped turn many creative dreams into reality!

Meet them!

✨Lisa Burger ✨
Arts nonprofit leader, attorney, and advocate. As Executive Director of Independent Arts & Media, Lisa brings more than a decade of expertise in nonprofit formation, operations, and arts management. She cares a lot!

⚡️Mike Chiappetta⚡️
Longtime Five Ton Crane member and creative force behind projects like Naga and the Captainess, La Victrola, and The Capitol Theatre. Mike blends 40 years of business leadership with hands-on fabrication insight to help artists succeed. When he is not impersonating an octopus, Mike is still using all 8 tentacles to get things done

🔥Peter Platzgummer 🔥
Burning Man Project staffer with experience leading complex projects around the world. Peter ensures that our big ideas are supported by strong planning, organization, and impact measurement, and does it with a perfect manicure.

Together, they’re helping build the next phase of Five Ton Crane–a sustainable, thriving nonprofit that empowers artists and strengthens community through public art.

Support large-scale art! fivetoncrane.org/donate

@zgummer @the_octogent @froggielb by @fivetoncrane

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10 months ago

Supported this year by Five Ton Crane, @compost_playground led by @r88d is a sculpture that turns the shapes of discarded fruits and vegetables into spaces for climbing, shelter, and play. It’s a love letter to sustainability, a celebration of Black/BIPOC-led creativity, and a reminder that big art takes a village: mentors, friends, makers, funders, and the communities that gather around the build.

If you believe in art that delights and brings people together, please consider supporting 5TC’s year-end campaign so more projects like this can come to life.

💛 Donate: https://fivetoncrane.org/donate/ by @fivetoncrane

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10 months ago

@eventhorizonled is one of the large-scale artworks supported by Five Ton Crane this year. Created by @bencbartlett this 30-foot-tall, audio-reactive kinetic sculpture lit up Burning Man 2025. Ben describes the piece as “a meditation on the beauty of the Universe… the chaos and order that shape everything.” The spinning rings symbolize the motion of the cosmos; the still center represents the singularity, the calm at the heart of the storm. Event Horizon is exactly the kind of ambitious, thoughtful work that 5TC exists to support!

If you want to help bring more wonder-filled please consider supporting Five Ton Crane’s year-end campaign.
💛 Donate: https://fivetoncrane.org/donate

📸: @autobiographica by @fivetoncrane

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10 months ago