Phil was invited by Jude van der Merwe of Mundaring Arts Centre in partnership with Claremont School of Art, Midland TAFE, The Forest Hills Activity Centre CALM and the Shire of Kalamunda, to design and orchestrate the making of this 10m high Phoenix fire sculpture with associated smaller fire sculptures. Diane subsequently made large sculptural lanterns with the students from Midland Tafe.

We worked with many artists on the project - chiefly Stuart Elliott, Michele Hogan, Richard Marito, Alan Clark and Peter Dailey and their students. It was a big community project also involving a lantern procession, dance performance, and a choir led by other artists and performers.

The Forest Phoenix was sited on a temporarily disused airstrip in the bush. It was a magical and rewarding experience both in the building and the final burning of the work. A community choir sang before the fire was lit by a mini fire sculpture 'monkey’ on a zip wire and bird fire shapes, the Forest Phoenix and the student and staff fires blazed whilst dancers wove between them. The project won an Australia Day Community Award.