Android Jones Studio Fire

My Barn And Studio Burned Down, And I Need Your Help

Dear Friends,

Two days ago I arrived at my beloved art barn / studio / temple completely engulfed in flames.

Everyone in my family is ok.

We don’t know how it started. What we do know is everything in and around the barn is gone.

All my art.

All my tools.

Decades of sketchbooks.

A library of art books.

Computers and hard drives.

Fine art sketches.

Original art.

My father designed and built this barn with his hands. I grew up in this barn. Nearly every material thing I cared about was inside. Decades of sketchbooks, all my archived originals, drawings and paintings, all of my art materials, terabytes of over 20 years of digital art, and all of my projects. All of the tools and equipment that I rely on to support my team and protect my family. All my photos and memories, the material residue and treasures acquired over decades of my best life are in ashes.

I have never felt this vulnerable and raw. I woke up feeling like a ghost of my former self.

Nothing can replace these things. All the years of energy I invested in acquiring these precious things, my collection of sacred stuff. It feels impossible to put into words what it feels like to witness all of that concentrated energy, all its potential value, and my life force dematerialize in a deadly inferno of smoke rising into the air.

I feel lost. The grief is exceptional. The barn was more than a place, it was my highest manifestation of creative possibilities. As an ever-evolving sculpture, it was my most valuable artwork. It was an external projection of my inner world. This place held all of my madness and magic. There was so much of myself that burned yesterday that I don’t even feel like the same person. It was my sacred safe place and now it’s been deleted from reality and I'm left with the hideous residue of its smoldering corpse, and a Herculean task of cleanup and restoration. And now I have to discover who I am without it. I don’t know what to do now. I don’t know what to do with myself. I have a long road to learning how to forgive myself for keeping so much value in one place and for failing to ensure its survival.

My deepest, truest thank you to all of the brave firefighters and first responders from the Lyons and Hygiene Fire Departments. Their heroic efforts and equipment were able to contain the inferno, prevent it from spreading, and keep us safe.

I have never launched a fundraiser before. I have always found it difficult to ask for help. I had a lot of pride in always being able to count on myself and my abilities to provide for my family's needs. A lot of my pride burned off in the fire yesterday. I’m experiencing an entirely new and unfamiliar dimension of real humility. I have a wife and three children and my team that need support.

It’s so ironic, I collected all these tools and resources to make new things and to fix broken things, but now all my tools and materials are gone and the broken thing that needs fixing is me.

And I don’t know how to fix this but I know I can’t fix it by myself. All I can do is surrender to what is so right now. So with all my humility, I need your help. I’m asking for your support in the form of donations, prayers and compassion. I’m open to people's advice and help in any shape it takes. Playlists, book recommendations, breathing exercises, etc.

My plan is to rebuild my studio and have it rise from the ashes again. It will probably take me a year and $250,000 to put some of the pieces back together. That’s only if I can gather enough funds to re-invent a new studio. I need to rebuild my computer workstation, all my monitors, my VR equipment, and all the software and technical gear required to make art. I’ll also need to replace my art supplies and design a new creative space. And this is just the beginning. I had so many “worlds” in my studio, and I need to recreate each of them. I plan to keep creating digital art, developing Microdose, designing art cars, galleries and camps for Burning Man, and continue making artifacts with the intent of inspiring others.

I feel like this is a transformational pivot point for me. Either I give up, or I generate the courage to reinvent myself. If there was ever a time in my life when I needed support from you, it is this moment. I need your help right now, and I have set up this page as an invitation to invest in a dream, a dream I want to make from this nightmare. I’m committed to using this tragedy as raw material for my next evolution as an artist. I know there’s a different version of me that will emerge from this. I hope this version is more humble and compassionate. I have always struggled with being able to accept love. Maybe it’s because there was too much stuff in the way, but now ALL that stuff is gone, and there has never been so much space inside me.

I have so much to be grateful for and those things are much easier to see and more valuable than ever.

My most sincere gratitude to everyone that has already reached out and with an overwhelming amount of messages of love and support. I love you all so much.

If you’ve ever been inspired by my art, here are ways you can help:

1) Contribute to this GoFundMe and please share it with your network.

2) Send direct funds to PayPal (@andrewjones1475) or Venmo (@Android-Jones) to avoid fees.

ETH wallet address can be found on our website.

3) Buy Android Jones art and merchandise on my website.

4) If you are local to the Longmont/Lyons/Boulder area and know of a great place to set up a studio either temporarily or permanently, or would like to help with clean-up efforts, please let us know through our contact page.

5) If you are one of my patrons and you’re feeling called to help me with a big contribution (support a new computer setup / build a new studio / replenish the traditional art station), I would deeply appreciate it right now. Please reach out by contacting me through Chelsea on my contact page and we’ll set up a time to talk.

6) Stay tuned, hug your people, and celebrate the art in your life.

Thank you for your love,

-Andrew