While 2023 saw the closest thing to a “return to normalcy” since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, actual COVID numbers and hospitalizations were reported to be rising for the first few months of the year before dropping to unprecedented lows. With a drastic decrease in demand for on-site tests and vaccines, the South Peninsula COVID-19 testing and vaccine site closed its doors, giving way to at-home testing and treatment at the regular hospital facilities.
As the lead volunteer for the Burning Basket project, a volunteer-dependent, weather-affected labor love, I have been witnessing this ongoing project as temporary art that leaves a lasting impression as it builds community and empowers individuals.
After participating in an interactive and impermanent art event in California in 2004, Homer artist Mavis Muller was inspired to bring the idea home. Since that time, she has been leading the creation of Homer’s annual Burning Basket, a community-wide collaboration that brings to life a Basket of Remembrance &Unburdening.