Lucy has spent decades building, repairing, teaching, and quietly making other people’s wild visions real. And she has brought some crazy shit to the playa! Anyone who has seen Calliope rage on the playa late night, knows... Lucy is the real deal.
And right now, she’s in danger of losing the shop that makes all of that possible.
The Dragon
Lucy built a fully realized dragon art car — a functional, street legal creature that has carried people through dust storms, night adventures, and moments of pure playa magic.
Potential buyers have circled. Deals nearly happened. Then fell through.
Because something like this needs the right steward — not just a buyer.
Lose the shop, and the dragon loses its lair.
The Forge
Lucy’s shop isn’t just useful — it’s irreplaceable.
It’s one of the only fire-safe industrial spaces in the Santa Cruz county where large-scale fabrication can legally and safely happen:
Steel structure
Fire sprinklers
Heavy equipment
Decades of tools and expertise
No suburban “you can’t weld here” restrictions
Spaces like this don’t get replaced. They disappear.
What Happened
The past several years hit Lucy hard: pandemic slowdowns, loss of steady work, legal expenses, and the constant cost of maintaining a large industrial space alone.
Since 2020, every dollar Lucy has earned has come from work done inside this shop.
Without it, there is no income stream — only fixed expenses that keep coming.
Walking away wouldn’t solve the problem. It would accelerate collapse.
The Plan: Turn Lucy Mode into Grandma Mode.
There IS a path forward — and it’s already beginning:
- Converting the shop into a shared maker collective
- Dedicated workspaces for artists and engineers
- A hub for Burner builds and experimental projects
- A place where Lucy can pass on knowledge instead of fighting bills
People are stepping up. Projects are forming. Momentum exists.
What’s missing is breathing room.
Why $30,000?
Because debt is the anchor pulling everything down.
This amount would:
- Pay off high-interest bank debt completely
- Repay a family loan taken to avoid default
- Eliminate hundreds per month in payments
- Stop the constant financial emergency
- Give the collective time to stabilize
Not profit or luxury. Survival → sustainability.
“Grandma Mode”
Lucy doesn’t want to retire into silence.
She wants to shift into what the crew affectionately calls “grandma mode”:
- Teaching instead of scrambling
- Mentoring new builders to build their own dragons
- Sharing tools and wisdom
- Supporting community art
- Making her own work again
- Being a resource instead of a crisis case
This is how knowledge survives — passed forward, not lost.
Why This Matters to the Burner Community
Burning Man culture doesn’t appear out of nowhere.
It comes from people like Lucy — builders who:
- Know how to fix anything
- Share tools
- Work through the night when deadlines loom
- Make the impossible happen
Lose enough spaces like this, and the culture loses its backbone.
️ Ways to Help Lucy
Donate
Every contribution helps stabilize Lucy’s shop and keep this rare resource alive.
Adopt the Dragon
Serious buyers, camps, collectives, or patrons interested in stewarding Lucy’s dragon art car are encouraged to reach out.
Buy Art
Several smaller pieces are available to help raise funds.
Sponsor or rent the Space
Know someone with resources who loves big weird art? Introductions welcome.
Spread the Signal
Share this everywhere — Burner networks, art circles, engineering groups, local communities.
Visibility = survival.
Closing
Lucy has kept this forge alive through sheer grit, ingenuity, and refusal to quit.
With support, it can become something even greater:
A living sanctuary where dragons are built, knowledge is shared, and future miracles begin long before they reach the playa.
Let’s not lose Lucy’s lair.
Organizer and beneficiary
Lucy Hosking
Beneficiary





