The Temple of the Heart was co-designed by Ela Madej and Reed Finlay.
Below are a few of the many Humans of the Temple of the Heart.
Originally from Kraków, Poland, Ela now lives in San Francisco, CA. She’s been to Black Rock City eleven times since her first burn in 2012. She has been on the build crew for Hotel California’s 3-story wooden structure since 2018. Her playa name is Light.
At the 2022 burn, Ela felt a deep calling to create a feminine Temple. As a new mom, she was moved by the idea of creating a vessel that can physically hold space for thousands of people and help them feel loved and accepted while they’re going through hard times. The heart is where we experience grief, but it’s also where we can ultimately transform pain into peace.
With the Temple, Ela also pays homage to her family and her beloved Eastern Europe.
Ela Madej
Reed is an architect, designer, and new father residing outside Los Angeles, CA. He is a creator of spaces for wellness, transformation, and growth, believing in the power of design to elevate our experiences and hold space for deep emotional work.
In 2019, Reed was inspired to one day contribute to the playa. As a member of the La Calaca build crew, he was mesmerized by the complexity and artistry of the build. Visiting the temple each day, he was struck by the power this space held in supporting people through grief, remembrance, and ceremony. He is humbled by the privilege of being part of this team and having the opportunity to serve those that experience the temple.
Through his work on the temple, Reed is honoring the memory of his friend Paris and all those fighting through mental illness and emotional turmoil, hoping this space may be of some solace.
Reed Finlay
A Burner since 2007, Tree Jay helped with art cars and projects long before that. He joined Temple in 2012 and has been involved in big art projects ever since.
He worked with Peter Hudson on Homoroborus, Tantalus in 2013 and fabricated Eternal Return in 2014. He joined David Best’s Temple crew in 2014, led Temple LNT in 2015, and was also part of 2016 Temple crew.
He began growing in Temple leadership roles in 2017. He was co-lead of the 2019 Temple, established Temple Builders Guild, and led Empyrean’s build team in 2022 and will be leading Temple of the Heart’s build this year.
TJ "Tree Jay" Lee
Drew Moxon is a maker and community builder from the SF Bay Area. In 2015, he attended a talk on climate change that altered his life path and the camp he came to lead. Hotel California is a net carbon-negative, solar-powered theme camp that welcomes people with love and hospitality while prototyping sustainable living systems. Drew is honored to contribute to the temple, which has been a place of deep inspiration and significance for him.
Drew Moxon
Archie has led 3 Builds for Hotel California, a 65-person camp with a modular 3-story hotel based on the build of the 2013 Temple of Wholeness. He loves the deep meaning brought on by building welcoming structures with a dedicated and diverse groups of volunteers.
Archie Japaridze
Elyse moved from Canada to the Bay Area in 2015 and has been going to the Burn ever since. She joined Hotel California’s camp leadership and build crew in 2018, leaning into connection, heart-centeredness, and creating community. She loves to build immersive experiences, and is so excited and humbled to work on such a meaningful project.
Elyse Lefebvre
Ajesh Shah came to the 2017 Temple build from a place of broken-heartedness. Witnessing and participating in the way Temple Crew showed up for each other, they recognized a core gift of the temple: open and grieving hearts courageously enacting community healing. A burner since 2005, Ajesh is devoted to community as an essential core of the burning man experience and is looking forward to welcoming this year's temple volunteers.
Ajesh Shah
Nonstop Symon has attended the burn every year since 2006. His first volunteer project was with Temple in 2010, and he’s been coming back ever since with the Temple Crew. He’s cleaned every Temple burn scar since 2012 along with the heroes that choose to stay and clean up. Symon has been highly involved with LNT since 2017 and he will lead Temple of the Heart’s LNT this year. It takes a crew to pull it off not just one person, and he’s humbled to be a part of something so powerful year after year.
Nonstop Symon
Temple of the Heart is generously supported by many experienced Temple builders, the Temple Builders Guild, and the resources and crew of the Hotel California BM camp & community.
The Temple is also eternally grateful for the energy and support from the greater Burning Man community.
Kasia Bojanowska is an artist and designer based in Krakow, Poland. She has been traveling to Burning Man since 2013 and is part of the Hotel California camp.
She joined the camp build in 2019 and was transformed by the experience. She is passionate about ways that art can affect people's lives and transform their perception of reality.
She will be helping with the Temple decorations and is looking forward to creating this beautiful space to gift to others.