A heated thread on r/BurningMan is calling for a change at the top of the Burning Man Project. The original post — which links to a new site, removeMarian.org — demands new leadership, transparency and accountability from the organization that runs the annual Black Rock City event. The Reddit thread has drawn community attention (roughly 177 upvotes and dozens of comments) and a wide range of responses.
Who’s at the center of this? Marian Goodell, the Project’s CEO, has been a flashpoint for criticism from longtime participants and recent critics alike. The discussion on Reddit ranges from calls for an open letter to the Board to arguments that the real problem is the Board of Directors itself — not only the CEO. Several commenters pointed out that the Board hires and supervises the CEO and approves budgets, meaning change may require pressure on the Board as much as on Marian.
What are people complaining about? Key themes in the thread:
– Calls for more transparency and clear accounting of how the organization spends revenue.
– Frustration over the perception that the Org raises large sums while relatively little goes directly to honorariums and small art grants (commenters cited numbers like ~$60M in revenue vs. ~$800k in honoraria, and questioned how much of a ticket actually funds art).
– Longstanding community burnout and division: several longtime burners described leaving parts of the community because they felt leadership no longer represented the broader community.
– Debate over the role of Burning Man’s “principles” and whether they’re founder-driven doctrine or community-originated values.
Some commenters urged action beyond social media: contact the Board directly, organize collective demands, or craft an open letter. Others reminded readers that leadership transitions sometimes happen naturally — a Bloomberg article discussed Marian’s reported plan to step down within a few years, a detail that has circulated in community conversations.
A few quotes from the thread capture the mood: “Time for new leadership. Time for accountability,” writes the original poster. Another user warned that focusing only on Marian misses the role of the Board, which has fiduciary responsibility for the organization’s direction.
Why it matters: Burning Man is more than a festival — it’s a large nonprofit with a global cultural footprint. Questions about who controls the money, how decisions are made, and who has access to leadership strike at the core of whether the event and the wider community reflect the people who build it.
What to watch: If community pressure grows, expect calls to the Board and more organized campaigns. For anyone interested, the Reddit thread (https://www.reddit.com/r/BurningMan/comments/1r1p3g0/) and RemoveMarian.org are the focal points for the moment. Those who want to influence change may consider reaching out to the Burning Man Project Board directly; their contact info is public on the organization’s site.
We’ll keep following developments on this story as organizers, artists and participants weigh in — and as potential leadership changes unfold.
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/BurningMan/comments/1r1p3g0/its_time_remove_marian/