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Phoenix Rising- Fred Olsen and Richard White
This elaborate project by Fred Olsen and Richard White extend the work they have done in other parts of the world. The scope of Phoenix Rising goes beyond Fire on the River, as it will take  a week to construct, and the sculpture will become its own kiln. At it's conclusion the sculpture will be included in the 25 Sculptures project and moved to a permanent site. The birth of the sculpture will take place after dark on the 29th.

Fred Olsen and Richard White, fired inplace works, Saddleback College, 2006

Red -  Right -  Returning by Jeremy Jernegan and Tulane University
This 25 foot tall incandescent sculpture will reference navigational aids associated with maritime travel. The piece will be assembled and erected on site and fired with wood to produce a glowing surrogate channel marker for travelers approaching the city. In common navigational rules of the road, mariners keeping to the channel observe particular types of markers to their right and left; when returning from the open sea, red or Nun buoys are kept to starboard, thus the axiom red, right returning.

“Fire on the River” is a one-day interactive exhibit of fired-in-place sculptures and temporary fast-fire kilns. Ceramic artists from the region will install and fire temporary kilns on-site on the levee of the MIssissippi River. These kilns will illustrate some of the diversity and innovations within the field of contemporary ceramic art. They will include kiln structures firing to earthenware and stoneware temperatures, utilizing wood and propane gas as fuels. These kilns represent personal interpretations of kiln design, influenced by traditional forms and the demands of particular applications. Some kiln sculptures will be fired during the event and be dismantled and removed immediately afterward.  Fire on the River will take place in the immediate vicinity of the river, in part to reflect the importance of the river to the life of the city and the region. The Mississippi has historically been the engine for commerce and technology in New Orleans, and the heart of its cultural life. The location of the event is the river levee of the now famous Lower Ninth Ward. Music in the evening will be provided by the Pinettes Brass Band, the only all-woman brass band in New Orleans, and there will be poetry provided by Chuck Perkins.

The Lower Ninth Ward is separated from the rest of the city by the Industrial Canal and the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet. It was failures in the engineering of these two man-made waterways which flooded the neighborhood. Called "lower" because it is downriver from the French Quarter, it is not particularly lower in elevation than the rest of the city. The breach of the Industrial Canal was so large that a whole barge came through it, and washed whole blocks of houses from their foundations. About 1000 people died there in a few hours after the Canal's failure. The water rushed from there all the way to a neighborhood well above sea level, right on the Mississippi's levee. This 150 year old community, the Holy Cross, was home to working class, mostly African American residents, and is designated a national historic neighborhood. Since Katrina, residents have been working with scientists, urban planners, architects, and non-profits locally and from around the country to plan the recovery of their community. We will work with the neighborhood to gather wood leftover from cleanup and construction, in order to transform it from waste to resource in our kilns, right on the river that built this land.

As we invite visitors to the conference and the city, we would like them to experience the dynamic and changing entity that so influences life here--the Mississippi River. In spite of technological innovations, the kiln firing still represents something of the unknown for ceramic artists. Kilns themselves are potential art forms that address the change and transformation that occurs within. The fluidity of the flame’s path through the kiln emulates the passage of the river down its muddy course. With “Fire on the River” we join an inquiry of contemporary thermal design with the experience of a broader metaphor of growth and potential.

For more information, or to propose or participate directly in a Fire on The River project please contact Christopher Brumfield at xtofu@cox.net.