Homer ‘OPENS’ itself to annual Burning Basket project

Hundreds gathered on the shore of the Homer Spit at Mariner Park on Sunday, Sept. 7, for the autumnal tradition of the Burning Basket. Created by artist and activist Mavis Muller, the annual impermanent art project is supported by a close group of volunteers, described by Muller as the Volunteer Art Department.

“We’re kind of like the volunteer fire department,” said Muller, addressing the gathered crowd on Sunday evening. “Except we don’t put out fires, we spark them.”

They spent a week erecting and weaving together this year’s basket. Students from Fireweed Academy participated in creating the spiral winding path that rests beside the basket, while residents of the Homer Senior Center watched and supported them.

The day after the burning of the basket, Muller returned with friends to the site of the burn to “read the ashes,” as well as clean the site. The process involves removing any metal pieces with a magnet and raking the ashes smooth.

Muller wrote that the charred tip of the center pole remained as “an artifact of persistence, of having held the gift until the very end.”

“By tending the ashes, we honor the impermanence of the basket, remember the beauty of what was shared, and leave the site cared for,” wrote Muller on her social media page. “We outlined the ashes with plant remnants to acknowledge that something important happened here. OPEN opened us to all positive possibilities. We sent a kiss to those we miss. And now prepare for opportunities disguised as loss.”

Beth Carroll and John Sheipe drum around a campfire on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025, at Mariner Park in Homer, Alaska, in preparation for the burn. (Chloe Pleznac/Homer News)

Two children walk the spiral path on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025, at Mariner Park in Homer, Alaska. The impermanent trail was created earlier this week by Fireweed Academy students. (Chloe Pleznac/Homer News)