"Experimental" was the flavor of the visual arts at this year's Three Rivers Arts Festival, which ended Sunday.

To its credit, the festival moved in inventive directions, the most evident being the 10 shipping containers purchased to provide a venue for contemporary expression.

That there would be glitches to work out in any such radically new venture could be expected. The metal containers succeeded as planned when the annual rains came, as self-contained shelters. But when the temperatures climbed unseasonably to the 90s, they became unbearable for visitors but, more significantly, for artists putting in long hours to complete their works.

Fans were installed as a stopgap measure, and presumably alterations to provide cooling and ventilation can be made relatively easily. More demanding may be adjustments to provide for visitor safety, such as modifying access ramps, so people don't trip.

Suggestions for precautions in the event of a fire -- including smoke detectors, fire extinguishers and lighted emergency exits -- have been made by Kenneth Unice, a ChemRisk senior health scientist who visited the festival. He also points out the necessity of providing for the venting of volatile arts and crafts products such as paints and adhesives.

The artworks themselves ranged from commendable to one project that fell far short of its proposal. That they succeeded at all says a lot for the gusto and talent of the artists involved, who worked within an unreasonably brief time frame.

The festival is aware of this shortcoming and is making provisions to put out the call for next year's artists soon.

If the festival wishes to continue to exhibit gallery-quality artists, it's important to respect them as professionals, and to give their artworks the presence and security they deserve. That would include stationing a knowledgeable attendant at each container whenever it is open to keep an eye on the work but also to introduce it to a diverse public. This person also could provide assistance to visitors with limited mobility in case of an emergency.

The effectiveness of such a provision was demonstrated in "Twist, Tie, Multiply," the fanciful collaboration by JoAnna Commandaros, Anna Divinsky and Karen Page that evolved throughout the festival and invited audience interaction.

The artists were regularly in attendance, working on the installation and with visitors. But even better was a mom, Betsy Commandaros, who served as a one-person welcoming committee, unobtrusively drawing onlookers to the art and then graciously explaining its various components, which included wall painting, metal sculpture and crochet and shibori elements.

Other artists occasionally "sat" their containers, or checked on them. But this is the festival's, not an artist's, responsibility.

Continuing Downtown construction, the loss of a full-time curator and a faltering economy were added demands upon festival 2008 planning. I expect many of the issues raised will be resolved by next year.

Pursuing wonder's edge

"We find our context where we can. Mine resides in the daily rhythms of my planet and its star," author Michael Sims writes in "Apollo's Fire: A Day on Earth in Nature and Imagination."

As a child, he once lay on snow looking into night's vast array of stars and, momentarily disoriented, he says, "fell into the sky." Even now, Sims feels the planet turning beneath his feet when he walks, "especially on barefoot summer days."

Clearly he has the perfect mind-set to discuss "The Philosophy Behind the Art and Science of Exploration," which he will do with NASA scientist Claudia J. Alexander and Sam Taylor, director of Carnegie Museum of Natural History, at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow at Carnegie Museum of Art. The panel, offered in conjunction with the 2008 Carnegie International, "Life on Mars," is free with museum admission (412-622-3131 or www.cmoa.org).

Museum liquidation

Tom Sarver is selling "some of the art and other stuff" from the Tom Museum, which officially closed in May after a 21-month ride. The sale is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at 410 Sampsonia Way, North Side.

Carnegie changes

In connection with the recent closing of the passageway between the Carnegie Library Main Branch and museums in Oakland, there has been a knowing snicker or two exchanged over the presumed opportunity the passageway offered to bypass museum admission desks. One could do essentially the same thing by taking the elevator from the museums' parking lot entrance to the second floor instead of exiting at the first for the ramp to admissions. Countering such schemes are the tags the museum gives visitors to wear. Gallery guards may remind those without one to pay up.

Speaking of guards, I want to clarify that the "security guard" who recently defaced a painting in the 2008 Carnegie International was an employee of an adjunct service, Capital Asset Protection, hired to supplement regular staff. The permanent Carnegie Museum of Art guards are dedicated career employees, respectful of the museum's mission and of the contents entrusted to them. They are not slashers.