Help "Ozymandias" recover after Reno Convention Center theft

09/10 UPDATE: We are gutted to share that after Burning Man, Ozymandias was vandalized and the majority of it was stolen while in storage for the RTIA show at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center. We have filed a police report and are still responding to the situation. The remainder of Ozymandias will still be shown at RTIA.

The details are still emerging about how this was allowed to happen, but needless to say we are furious. We were offered to store Ozymandias in Lot C of the Convention Center in the week between burn and the RTIA show. We were told there was 24/7 onsite security, we even met several security guards when we dropped off the piece on Tuesday 09/02 and again when we stopped by on Wednesday 09/03. They knew our names, what we looked like, and that we were storing the piece until the show. We left on Thursday to drive back to Las Vegas, pick up our pets, clean and unpack our gear, all so that we could come back to Reno for the installation on Tuesday 09/09.

When we were an hour out from Reno, a friend called us to say that part of our sculpture was laying in the parking lot and the remainder of it and our entire trailer were gone. We immediately called the RTIA organizers and they had no idea anything was wrong. To me this was bad enough, but when the security team started reviewing footage, they found that the theft likely STARTED on Friday night and continued through Sunday. This was a progressive theft, a gutting of our sculpture, the thieves even used power tools to cut through aluminum, and nobody from either the Convention Center security or the RTIA show noticed or cared. We have not yet been given access to the security footage, but we do have a photo of the trailer still in place on Sunday with half of the sculpture missing already.

We will be filing an insurance claim with RTIA and hopefully with the Convention Center, if they will facilitate it. Our goal with participating in this show was to place the sculpture and find it a life after Burning Man. We put so much into this piece: we did not have an Honorarium this year, the project was almost entirely self-funded, not to mention the fact that the lead artist, Rick, invested three months of his life welding this piece full-time.

This theft comes off of a chaotic exit from burn, which has really stretched us thin. Our truck broke down by Pyramid Lake and we had to be towed (truck and flatbed with the piece) into Reno. We are still figuring out how to repair the truck, but the tow, unexpected stay in Reno, and rental car back to Las Vegas cost us almost $2,000. Now we are looking at the extra expenses to transport the remaining half of Ozy back to Las Vegas after the show (we now have no truck or trailer), as well as likely legal fees as we figure out recovering from this.

Sharing Ozy at burn this year was pure joy. We are trying to hold onto that right now, and we are so grateful to everyone who helped us make and install this piece. Thank you to the community who has already responded on our behalf -- we are so grateful for all of the love and support coming our way.

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Hello! My name is Caroline, and I am supporting the lead artist Ricardo Martinez (Riikc) in bringing his artwork to Burning Man in 2025. We are so excited to be bringing this climbable, monumental sculpture to Burning Man this year, and we would be grateful for any support from the burner community!

"Ozymandias" is a monumental, metal head that emerges from the playa, giving the impression that a full statue may be buried somewhere deep within the earth. The sculpture is constructed using segments of aluminum tube, making it uniquely climbable, almost like a jungle gym.

Ricardo received an Honorarium in 2023 to bring "Axolotl: A Spirit Guide" to Burning Man. If you were there, you may remember this giant axolotl, which was built in the same aluminum style.

2023 was his first year at the burn and his first time bringing art, and he's thrilled to be coming back this year with a new sculpture. We're flying solo with no Honorarium this time around, and so far the build has been entirely self-financed. We have already purchased nearly all of our materials, with all additional support going toward:

Thank you so much for your support! We can't wait to see you there!