<<< Let's change the world >>>

---

 Project Summary 

The Cycle of life is an interactive art installation exploring the parallels of the shared life cycles of salmonids and humans. This project highlights a solution to disrupted river eco-systems on the Columbia River & raises awareness for conservation and long-term efforts to restore fish migration.

Physical Description 

The Cycle of Life is a circular installation composed of sculptural salmonid forms, each representing a stage of life: birth, growth, transformation, adulthood, return/reproduction, and death. The forms range in scale from small egg-like elements to fish measuring up to 16 feet in length, reflecting various species - sockeye, rainbow trout, steelhead, and chinook salmon.

At the center of the circle is a climbable fish ladder / powerline structure, offering a completive vantage point to look across the installation and out over the surrounding playa. The rigid powerline form embracing the organic woven net ladders will be a striking visual draw.

By day, reflective surfaces, translucent elements, and layered textures interact with desert light, making the forms visible and legible from a distance. At night, lighting reveals scale patterns, silhouettes, and subtle movement. From afar, the installation reads as a single system; up close, it becomes a series of tactile, intimate encounters.

Physical Dimensions : 50' diameter, 20' tall.

Interactivity

Interactivity is central to the Cycle of Life. Participants move through the piece, encountering each stage of life in sequence and experiencing the parallels between human and salmonid life cycles. The fish are scaled to human dimensions, encouraging people to gather, and creating space for conversation and discovery.

At the center are climbable fish ladders of woven netting, wrapped through a powerline tower - inspired by fishing nets, fish passages, and the power that the dams provide. As participants climb, they experience the effort required to move upstream, mirroring the challenges of migrating fish. At the top, a contemplation pool awaits.

The final stage, representing death and renewal, is a Chinook salmon sculpture with a communal fire. This space invites warm reflection, framing death not as an ending, but as a return of energy that nourishes future life.
Throughout the installation, interaction becomes a catalyst for awareness, dialogue, and shared responsibility.

What is the philosophy of the piece?

The Cycle of Life is rooted in the belief that human infrastructure and natural systems are inseparable. Along the Columbia River, dams built to support human growth have fundamentally altered salmon and trout life cycles—blocking migration, severing spawning grounds, and eliminating access to ancestral habitat. The result has been not only the loss of fish, but the disruption of entire ecosystems.

Salmonids are keystone species. Their return once carried marine nutrients hundreds of miles inland, feeding rivers, forests, wildlife, and people. When these cycles are broken, the effects ripple outward—warming waters, simplified food webs, declining biodiversity, and weakened river systems.

For us, this work is about pairing responsibility with possibility. We hope participants leave with a clearer understanding that conservation is not abstract. It is a choice to repair connections, restore pathways, and care for the systems that sustain future generations.

What is the life cycle of the piece itself?

The Cycle of Life is applying for an honoraria grant for Burning Man 2026.   This piece is very much being conceived and built to tour - it’s central, in fact, to the mission.  Burning Man is only the first stop on visits to communities up and down the Columbia River watershed - to encourage dialogue, engage with the public, and provide opportunities for outreach and community involvement.

The fish will, eventually, be covered in hand-built scales, of ceramic and metal, built in art-outreach programs to involve people at diverse age and skill-sets - from kids, to grownups, to elders.  All will have a say and a hand in building the completed piece - in fact, this might be the most important part of the piece.  That it will have a life after the playa, and that burning man is only the beginning.

Timeline for The Cycle
We've submitted an application to burning man arts, and will hear back from them in March.  When they decide, and which tier they'd like to fund it, we'll be off to the races.  We plan to include as many artists as are willing and able to participate, in whatever ways they can.  There will be many zoom calls.

Design and development thru May 2026

Build & outreach May - August 2026

and then Burning Man Sept 2026.  After that, the piece will tour the Columbia Watershed to raise awareness through public engagement, and build momentum for the fish ladder project!

Roles

Angela Elise Stober, Sarah J Weaver, Gwen Darling, Sara Thornton, Quill Hyde...  and who else wants to be part of this?  There are many roles to fill.  Many roles to define.  

Sculpting, Metalwork, Ceramics, Fabric, Grant Writing, Rope Weaving, Research, Outreach, Media, Lighting, Transport, Build, Volunteer Coordination, Scheduling... to name a few.

This will be a fully collaborative effort.  

What makes the end goal actually possible is that people have been hard at work figuring these out.  They are QUITE COMPLEX.  But the information is out there - a scan through https://media.fisheries.noaa.gov/2023-02/anadromous-salmonid-passage-design.pdf ought to convince you that this is entirely possible.  There are engineers, biologists, heavy thinkers ready to get to work  - not to mention contractors and heavy equipment and concrete teams - we just need to secure the resources to make this happen.  And I know we can.

This project makes sense on so many levels - both economic and spiritual - and the opportunity to change the world for the better is fully possible.  Let's do it!