The 22nd annual Homer Burning Basket project will be ignited the night of Sept. 7, with collaborative, community activities taking place the week before at Mariner Park.
The annual community interactive impermanent art experience is led by local installation artist, Mavis Muller, who announced earlier this month that this year’s basket is entitled “OPEN – Basket of Remembrance & Unburdening.” The theme word changes every year and is always a verb — “an action, an invitation.” Muller said the theme asks us not just to witness the basket but to do something, to embody the spirit of it within our own lives.
The annual art project is rooted in community collaboration and hands-on participation, inviting participants to imagine what the theme can invoke for them.
It has been a tradition for Fireweed Academy students and teachers to take field trips to Mariner Park during build week to create the intricate, spiral walking path that rests beside the basket. Students gather treasures from the beach to arrange into small works of art, ground designs, and decorated stick tripods to embellish the path.
“The idea of the circular path is simple, yet profound,” Muller said. “To walk while thinking good thoughts. The students bring this vision to life, creating something truly magical and inspiring.”
She said the Senior Center in Homer plans to bring a bus of residents to build week as well, with some seniors participating in minor tasks and others simply enjoying watching the students build their trail and contribute to the basket. Muller said it’s particularly special to have the span of generations on-site to share creativity.
Community members can join in the construction of the woven sculpture from Sept. 1-6 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily at Mariner Park on Homer Spit Road. On Sunday, Sept. 7, the basket is slowly decorated by community members, often with remembrances for departed loved ones and other personal sentiments tucked inside and “unseen by others but respectfully held within the heart of the basket until the time of release.” Muller said that all are invited to tie a red string on the basket in memory of “stolen, missing and murdered sisters.” Additionally, a list of community members who have passed away in the past year will be present as an act of remembrance, with a pen to add names.
At sundown on Sunday, the basket will be ignited and “burned as a performance of fire-art to symbolically disperse the collective positive intentions.”
Muller said there will be drumming and a fire spinning performance, and reminds the community that the free celebration is a “no alcohol, no dogs event.” The burn date of the basket this year coincides with the full moon and a total lunar eclipse, which will not be visible from the U.S.
At the Aug. 25 regular city council meeting, Muller received a mayoral recognition from Mayor Rachel Lord for the Burning Basket project. The recognition notes that the event has become “an autumnal tradition attended by hundreds from Homer and beyond,” and is “recognized as an installation on the cutting edge of grassroots, interactive and impermanent art.” Mayor Lord wrote that the Burning Basket is a demonstration of the strength, creativity and interconnectedness of the Homer community.
In her response to the recognition, Muller said that one year, she saw a small note pinned to the basket. It read: “It’s hard to describe this. No words.” She said that note has stayed with her over the years, because it speaks to the essence of the Burning Basket: an experience that often transcends language and resists being captured in sentences.
Bundles of nettles hang to dry around the center pole from last year’s Burning Basket on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025. The nettle bundles will aid in the construction of this year’s basket. (Chloe Pleznac/Homer News)
