Description
Blooming from the Ashes is an interdisciplinary and interactive performance piece that addresses the social, ecological and emotional impact of increased wildfires as a result of forest management and climate change.
As lovers of the natural world, artists, gardeners, community members, and ecologists, we have both observed and experienced deep emotions of grief, wonder, frustration and joy surrounding wildfire and post-fire recovery. Our forests are in a state of change, destruction and regeneration brought upon largely by colonization, historic forest management, and climate change. Fire is the great revealer of truth, and truth can be difficult to hold.
In this experience, we will weave together floral arts, aerial dance, spoken word, fire ecology, and song to explore the life force—of fire, of growth, and dynamic change in our forest home. We will stand witness to one another as we turn towards these truths, feel the cracked surfaces and feel our resilience.
The hopeful outcome of this project is a deeper understanding of our beloved forest’s future and a collective opportunity to share in our grief and wonder of the tremendous ecosystem with which we are intertwined. We will honor our past, embrace the present, and re-imagine our future.
Acknowledgement: We’d like to thank the Southwest Fire Science Consortium for providing additional support for creating this experience.
Molly McCormick is a plant ecologist and program manager for the Southwest Fire Science Consortium. She is also a dancer who uses diverse types of movement practice as ritual for connection to body, community, and Earth.
Photo Credit: Theresa Bear Photography
theresaisabear.com
Kate Watters founded Wild Heart Farm, a one-acre farmstead in Rimrock, after nearly 20 years studying and restoring wild lands. She grows food, flowers, medicine and biological diversity and creates floral art for all occasions. Her creative mission is to explore the details and diversity of people and place through writing, floristry, gardening and art. Kate has developed volunteer projects and artist residencies and co-curated art exhibits with scientists and artists to advocate for plants, pollinators and public lands.
Terri Schuett is a horticulturist, yoga instructor and master florist cultivating 21st-century flower power. She is the founder of The Happy Vine, focusing on mindful floral design, specialty cut flower gardening, community connection and regenerative botanical innovation.
Meghan Callaghan is dedicated to restoring song to it’s rightful role in our daily lives – as a vehicle for building community, creative expression, healing, and remembering our true selves.
As a board certified music therapist, Meghan facilitates interactive music making in community and healthcare settings. Her professional emphasis is in eldercare and End-of-Life work. In 2010, Meghan founded the Flagstaff Threshold Choir, a song-circle of women who provide compassionate bedside singing for those at life’s thresholds of illness and death.
The Southwest Fire Science Consortium (SWFSC) gets emerging science on the ground by connecting scientists, land managers, and the public. By facilitating these connections, the SWFSC helps to assure that scientists are addressing the most pressing questions and managers are applying the most recent science in their efforts to protect communities and critical natural resources.
