Fires have ravaged the West with devasting results, burning through towns, ski resorts and forests, uprooting thousands, destroying homes and businesses. As smoke blanketed Northern California this past summer, fires were on the minds of many.
These are the fires that gave birth to the upcoming free “FOREST⇌FIRE” exhibit to debut at Truckee Donner Community Recreation Center on Dec. 10 connects art, the humanities and science to examine the future of forest fires in the West.
“FOREST⇌FIRE” is a multimedia art installation that features 19 California artists. Using different mediums such as painting, textiles, beadwork and sculpture, the exhibition tells the story of forest ecology and its relationship with fire. The project is curated by Nevada County Arts Council Artist-in-Residence Michael Llewellyn and Heather Llewellyn in partnership with Nevada County Arts Council, Truckee Donner Recreation & Park District and UC Berkeley’s Sagehen Creek Field Station.
“The way the exhibit is laid out is that it’s broken into four main chapters. What the forest was, what happened to it, what it’s become and what we can do about it.” –Michael Llewellyn
“That’s what our narrative is all about. It explains the historical context of fire and fire ecology that was introduced by human interaction. The forest was managed for 13,000 years with fires,” says Michael.
The Llewellyns have a photography and film background and were drawn to work with the community and public engagement projects.
“It was our experience making exhibits. We realized that we were engaging all of our interests, all of our skills and we really wanted to serve the public and create public conversation,” says Michael.
They began looking for a project to sink their teeth into, a bigger story so to speak, and ultimately connected with Jeff Brown, former manager of Sagehen Creek Field Station.
“Jeff said they’d been studying forest management and fire and that they had a solution for catastrophic fires. Sagehen had 60 or 70 years of data on the forest. They got together with all of the forest stakeholders, from environmentalists and land managers to the timber company. They brought in the Washoe Tribe and basically sat down and they figured out a solution,” Heather says.
This became the inspiration for the exhibit. Sagehen has an artist-in-residency program and the Llewellyns became part of this.
“We felt like there was a story there that we could really develop and break down into simple parts for the public to understand. The way the exhibit is laid out is that it’s broken into four main chapters. What the forest was, what happened to it, what it’s become and what we can do about it,” says Michael.
The exhibit describes different periods of time and what happened or what is happening, and each one has a piece of art that supports it. It’s an interpretive exhibit. Heather points out that the artists involved in the exhibit want to participate in the climate conversation and want to know how can they help the forests.
Local artist Sara Smith is one of the artists who contributed to the exhibit. She is involved with the exhibit through one of its educational aspects, which is a collaboration with Sierra Watershed Education Partnership (SWEP).
“SWEP is creating a three-year program. One piece within that whole exhibit is the interactive, participatory installation project that I’m doing with the kids,” says Smith. “The kids get to experience the exhibit itself, respond to it and then become part of the exhibit. It is a reflective project. For me, the most important thing is giving a voice to the kids.”
A book, “Who Needs a Forest Fire” by Paula Henson, and an animated film, “A Fire for All” by Christopher Baldwin, have also been created for the project to connect with children.
Essays will also accompany the exhibit and be translated into Spanish, along with a Washoe response to every issue accompanying each essay.
“It is important to give the Washoe a voice throughout the entire exhibit narrative, but also it’s very important for people to see not only the language, but to see [the Washoe’s] participation and to be reminded that the land that they live on was once Washoe land and was cared for for 13,000 years. It’s a way to reinforce the cultural idea that people have taken care of the land for so long and then something needs to return in that way,” says Michael.
The opening reception for the exhibit is on Dec. 10 from 5 to 7 p.m. and will include presentations by Truckee Mayor Anna Klovstad, Nevada County Arts Council executive director Eliza Tudor, The Center for Art + Environment at the Nevada Museum of Art director William L. Fox, Sacramento poet laureate emeritus Indigo Moor and the Llewellyns. The exhibit will run until June 2022. | nevadacountyarts.org
“FOREST⇌FIRE”
Exhibit Dec. 10-June 2022
Reception Dec. 10 | 5-7 p.m.
Truckee Donner Community Rec Center | Truckee
