Organic art installations invite community interaction at Lone Fir

Metro’s Lone Fir Pioneer Cemetery to host "Still" and "Without Name" Oct. 1 to 15

Sculptures of fairy-tale proportions will be installed on the grounds of Metro's Lone Fir Pioneer Cemetery. The exhibit begins with a reception 5 to 10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 1, 2010.

"Still," created by Jacomijn Schellevis and Micki Skudlarczyk, is an edible art installation built of a crystallized sugar solution. "Still" invites the community to celebrate the beauty of life and its inevitable process; the edible sugary installation will be slowly dismantled by people who want to take a piece of this art with them.

Schellevis and Skudlarczyk are fascinated by death. Their passion is the beauty of burial, its quietude of organic process and its significance in world culture.

The artists also plan to install a boat made out of salt in Block 14, the portion of the cemetery that is the burial ground for Chinese railroad workers, many of whom lived in the area in the late 1800s and early 1900s, as well as pioneer era mental health patients of Dr. James Hawthorne. The history of the Chinese burials that took place on Block 14 and sensitivity to the beliefs and rituals for what remains there are the inspiration for this installation, called "Without Name." With this work the artists hope to illuminate the beauty of the belief that the spirits of the dead are carried in boats to the Western Paradise. Much like the Block 14 memorial design, the arched path in the sculpture represents a boat that carries the spirits to the west. Extra care will be taken not to harm the soil in Block 14.

Founded in 1855, Lone Fir Pioneer Cemetery is located between Southeast 20th and 26th avenues and Stark and Morrison streets. Today, the cemetery is a wooded, landscaped arboretum in the heart of Portland. More than 25,000 people are buried there, from the familiar (Curry, Dekum, Hawthorne, Lane, Lovejoy, Macleay) to the unknown.

Another opportunity to visit Lone Fir Pioneer Cemetery is the annual Tour of Untimely Departures on Halloween night. This popular event allows visitors to "meet" some of the cemetery's residents at their graves and hear the unusual circumstances surrounding their untimely departures. Ghostly guides share the history of Lone Fir as they take you through the cemetery on a path lit with candles. Learn more

To view "Still" and "Without Name" enter Lone Fir on Southeast 26th Avenue, between Stark and Morrison streets. Pets are not allowed in any of Metro's parks or natural areas, including cemeteries. Getting there: Tri-Met stop IDs 4023, 4024 and 7216.

Learn more about the artists
Learn more about Lone Fir Pioneer Cemetery
Learn more about the plans for Block 14