Twin Urn Burn: Closing Ceremony event image
Queens Botanical Garden, Flushing, Queens

Twin Urn Burn: Closing Ceremony

Six months of handwritten wishes and fears go up in flames as Chloe Seibert's Twin Urns are lit for a fall-equinox ritual at Queens Botanical Garden.

Photo: Epicgenius · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

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All spring and summer, visitors to Queens Botanical Garden have been slipping handwritten hopes and anxieties onto handmade paper into two sculptural urns. Now Chloe Seibert lights them in a communal fall-equinox ceremony, and the ashes go into the Garden's compost system, closing the loop from words to soil. If you want a quietly moving, genuinely unusual way to mark the change of season, this is it.

What to expect

A gathering at the urns in the Garden, a participatory ritual and the burning of the collected papers, with time to reflect as dusk approaches. It's a small, contemplative event rather than a spectacle.

Good to know

  • RSVP through the Garden's Eventbrite link
  • Admission for non-members includes entry to the Garden
  • The 7 train to Flushing–Main Street is about a 10-minute walk
  • Supported by the Queens Arts Fund
  • Good for adults and older kids who enjoy participatory art

Going? Keep it.

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Common questions

What gets burned?

The handwritten wishes, fears and dreams visitors placed in the urns over the six-month project.

Do I need to register?

Yes, an RSVP is required.

What happens to the ashes?

They are incorporated into the Garden's composting system.