Fire Castle construction starts

• Fire Castle

(The Republican Eagle)

Talk about it

STOCKHOLM — The local artists who burned a Viking ship sculpture on Lake Pepin last year are back.

This fall they’ll burn Fire Castle, a sculpture featuring a castle wall and gate, fanciful turrets and a crouching, dragon-like creature at one end.

The Art+Fire Project will culminate Sept. 27 in Stockholm Village Park on Lake Pepin.

Construction is getting under way, and this year the public is being invited to help build the sculpture. Public building sessions will be from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday and again Sept. 14 and 21, weather permitting.

Leading the project for the Lake Pepin Art & Design Center is Stanton Sears, a Stockholm-based public artist and a professor of art at Macalester College in St. Paul. He designed the castle and is in charge of construction.

The sculpture will be built entirely of recycled and clean waste wood materials, which are being donated by local lumberyards and other businesses.

The public also can participate in the project by attending community lantern-making workshops scheduled from 6 to 9 p.m. Sept. 11 and 18, and from 1 to 5 p.m. Sept. 21 at the art center in downtown Pepin. People will create paper lanterns to use during the festival and take home. A small donation will cover the cost of materials.

Art+Fire08 will take place Sept. 27. During the afternoon there’ll be lantern displays, live music, and refreshments. The Lund Volunteer Fire Department will be on scene to ensure safety. The department, which is raising funds for a new set of Jaws of Life for Pepin County, will accept donations.

Also that afternoon there’ll be a mini-workshop at which visitors will be able to create simple lanterns.

At dusk, fire dancers from Illumination Fire Troupe will lead the burning of the Fire Castle. There is no admission charge.

For more information, go online to www.artfireproject.org or to www.pepinartdesign.org, or call the art center at (715) 442-4442.

Tags: li estyle, stochholm, castle, construction, daily updates