Opening this Saturday in Graton, California, Art Honors Life is a gallery that will showcase the work of artists and artisans who create urns and other funeral vessels. The gallery’s owner previously organized exhibitions of funeral art and also runs Funeria, an online arts agency that promotes and sells original, finely handcrafted urns, vessels and personal memorial art. Art Honors Life will feature more than 50 works of art by North American and European artists. Vessels on offer include everything from ceramic stoneware pillow boxes to a glistening aluminum rocket ship. Also included are products made exclusively for Funeria, such as small wooden boxes made from cedar and maple salvaged from the Pacific Northwest’s old growth rainforests – “for every nature-loving individualist, there’s a perfectly beautiful former tree just waiting to carry them home”. As cremation rates are rising (from 21.1 percent a decade ago to 32 percent in 2005 – source: New York Times) and are predicted to increase even more, this is definitely a growth market for artists and entrepreneurs who can offer alternatives to somber and impersonal urns. For more inspiration, check out Funeria’s Ashes to Art catalogue (PDF). Spotted by: New York Times