Ocean Beach FoundationOcean Beach Fire Pits - Proposed Designs
Help preserve your right to bonfires on Ocean Beach! Thanks to a collaboration between the Ocean Beach Foundation, Burners Without Borders, the Surfrider Foundation, and the National Park Service, working towards an artful way of keeping beach bonfires legal, clean and friendly for everyone to enjoy, we're now in the final stages of preparing permanent fire rings for the public to use on Ocean Beach. Click above to learn more, and find out how you can support the project, click on the links below to learn more about the approved designs in detail, and then join us on April 14 for the installation and first lighting of our new fire pits!
1. Fire Blooms - by Mawaz-Khan and Anders 2. Cement Flower - by Merritt
3. Basalt Bowls - by Gumbia and Malley
4. Seastar - by Gadekan
5. Wave by Dan Macchiarini & Emma Mankin
Bonfires at Ocean Beach were on the verge of being snuffed out as recently as a year ago, but thanks to a community outcry they've been saved....almost. Your donation now is needed to complete the process of secure your right to enjoying a nice bonfire down on Ocean Beach.
A little background: Last year, the National Park Service almost banned fires on Ocean Beach because of persistent problems with trash and debris. That threat prompted the creation of the Ocean Beach Foundation, which joined with Burners Without Borders (a public outreach arm of the Burning Man project, learn more about them here), the Surfrider Foundation (an ocean advocacy group, learn more about them here), and the National Park Service, to keep beach bonfires legal, clean and friendly.
Spurred on by appeals by SaveOceanBeach.org (created by a current OBF board member) and Burning Man's newsletter, the community wrote more than 3,000 letters to the Park Service, which agreed to give it one more chance and take Surfrider up on their proposed solution-- designated fire pits. The call was put out to the community for fire- pit designs that were works of art.
The chance to build permanent, public fire art in San Francisco galvanzed this unlikely coalition, and Burners Without Borders took the lead in procuring designs, with the understanding that those chosen would be installed by April 14th as an Earth Day celebration event.
Over 35 designs were submitted and five were chosen to take to the Parks Project Review Committee. The designs have now been approved, and the artists have already begun work to meet the April 14 deadline. That day, the Park Service plans to host a volunteer clean up and grand unveiling of the pits. This event is part celebration and part media event to help educate the public about their new fireplaces.
But just making the designs isn't enough--we need your help! Namely, we need to raise money to pay for this art. Although the Park Service offered $3,000 for the project and Burners Without Borders has raised a whopping $16,000, the total project will cost $42,900 (see the costs breakdown here), so we need to raise an additional $26,900. We also need a source of free or low- cost kiln cement.
What you can do: check out the designs above, and then make a contribution. Burners Without Borders and their partner group the Black Rock Arts Foundation will be acting as fiscal sponsors for this project. You can contribute directly to Burners Without Borders via PayPal by clicking the button below.