Help Build BAAABS: A Black Sheep Bound for Burning Man

Some of us have always been the black sheep. I want to build us a lighthouse.

Meet BAAABS—Bad Ass Amazingly Awesome Black Sheep: a giant, glowing, fire-farting sheep with a rooftop dancefloor, built around a bus and bound for Burning Man. A rolling celebration of queer joy, absurd ambition, and finding your people.

Where even black sheep belong.

Right now, BAAABS is a design and a build plan. The images are concept renderings. I'm a tig welder with a metalworking shop in SoDo Seattle. I already possess two fire-effect poofers which I built myself. I’ll contribute my unpaid labor. What I need help funding is the bus and the materials to bring her to life.

I’m aiming for a suitable donor bus at $5,000 or less and keeping the build frugal with surplus materials, usable offcuts, and flexible panel choices.

Here’s the working budget:

Donor bus: $5,000

Acquisition and initial repairs: $3,000

Frame, deck, stairs and rails: $7,000

Exterior panels, coating and mounting hardware: $7,000

Lighting, electrical and initial power: $3,000

Integration of existing fire effects: $1,000

Welding and fabrication consumables: $1,000

Specialist safety and structural review: $2,000

Taxes and freight: $2,000

Build subtotal: $31,000

Contingency for unexpected costs (25%): $7,750

Estimated build total: $38,750

These are planning estimates, not supplier quotes. The budget excludes a sound system, event transportation and travel, ongoing insurance, storage and operating expenses, and fundraising processing fees. Sound will be a later phase.

The first step is finding the right bus. Then come the structure, exterior, lighting, and fire-effect integration, with review and testing along the way. I’ll share progress photos and meaningful budget changes. Spending may shift as actual costs become clear, and completion and Burning Man participation depend on funding, the build, and event approvals.

BAAABS is my privately owned art project, not a registered charity. Contributions are not tax-deductible and do not purchase ownership, membership, tickets, or a guaranteed ride.

If you want to see this sheep roll out of a workshop and into the dust, I’d love your help. Contribute, share the fundraiser, or send a lead on an affordable bus or materials.

I’m bringing the shop, the tools, the poofers, and my labor.

Donate if you want to help me build the sheep. <3