Description
Flagstaff is a special place: a diverse, scrappy creative community nestled between majestic volcanic peaks and dramatic sandstone canyons. It is home to towering pines and flickering aspens, to bugling elk and yelping coyotes, all beneath a dark, starry sky. But Flagstaff is also home to wildfires and floods, which are growing more severe as humans alter the landscape and climate. Our population is booming, but our water supply is limited. The spoils of the real estate boom have not been shared equally. Housing has become unaffordable for many. Demand for more housing risks paving over the very meadows that make Flagstaff beautiful. Can we prosper economically, while preserving our unique landscape and creative community?
Envision is an installation in which community members are invited to materially contribute their dreams and concerns for Flagstaff’s future. In the center of the room, a cloud of thousands of aspen leaves rises from a shadow of charcoal and stone gathered from recent fire and flood sites. Will our community transcend these threats, adapt, and form new connections, just as aspens spring new shoots from their roots when a tree dies in a fire?
Interdisciplinary artist Bryan David Griffith explores complex issues using simple forms and materials. Griffith earned a degree in engineering and worked for an international management consulting firm before he resigned to follow his conscience. He bought an old van to live out of as he toured the country to build a new career as an artist. When Griffith’s van broke down in Flagstaff, he fell in love with the town, and then his wife, Tasha. He never left.
In 2016, Griffith won the Flagstaff Arts Council’s Viola Award and the Phoenix Art Museum’s Artist Grant for his work on wildfire. His work is held in a number of permanent collections including the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Phoenix Art Museum, University of Michigan Museum of Art, Center for Creative Photography, and Fort Wayne Museum of Art. His recent solo exhibitions include the High Desert Museum, Fresno Art Museum, and Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum. Griffith is represented by Bentley Gallery in Phoenix.
This project is made possible with collaborative efforts by the Coconino High School welding program, whose students fabricated portions of the installation. With gratitude to the students involved and instructor Mike Handforth.
