Inspire: 9th annual basket burning asks what’s holding you back?

By Randi Somers
Homer Tribune

Mavis At the Basket

Strong winds and rain forced postponement of the Basket Burning Celebration from Sunday to Monday evening.
Construction of a basket woven from natural materials like grass and seaweed, as well as a walking labyrinth at Mariner Park started Sept. 9, and continued through Sept. 15. The burning was slated for Sunday evening, but high winds and rain forced a postponement until Monday evening.
“Inspire – The Basket of Remembrance and Unburdening,” is the theme this year. Everyone was invited to participate in the construction of the basket and adjacent labyrinth, which was decorated with flowers and art and attach notes of remembrance and unburdening to the basket.
The ceremony included a potluck dinner, Muller’s talk, music, firespinning and drumming before the basket was torched at sundown Monday.
“Inspire,” is the 24th in a series of burning basket enactments coordinated by Muller in Alaska, California, Oregon, Hawaii and on the Mexico/New Mexico border. She said funding support comes from the Alaska State Council on the Arts, Rasmuson Foundation, Black Rock Arts Foundation in San Francisco and the Source Interactive Art Foundation in Maui, Hi. She received a 2011 Artist Fellowship Award from the Rasmuson Foundation and a 2012 Artist of the Year award from the Homer Council on the Arts for her Burning Basket Project.
This was the first time weather has delayed the ceremony.