Make Your Mark at Art On The Trails.
Playing with Forest Fire Charcoal.
Make Your Mark was an interactive art experience as part of Art On The Trails. The project engaged participants in deliberate mark-making to contemplate our impact on our surroundings. Using handmade ink crafted from forest fire charcoal collected at the site of the 2021 Parley's Canyon Fire, we explored gestural paintings and mark-making drawings as a way to delve into the question of what we leave behind through our actions and words. Over 140 people participated, and each person left with their own artwork on recycled cotton paper, painted with elderberry sticks and gull feathers using the forest fire charcoal ink. At the end, the question was asked, “How do you want to leave your mark on the world?”
This project follows the 2021 project, “Reflecting on the Parley’s Canyon Fire” which utilized the same forest fire charcoal ink to engage the public in community contemplation, intention making, fire management practices, and sustainability.
Park City Summit County’s Art on the Trails is an annual interactive art experience along McLeod Creek Trail in Park City, UT. This event took place August 27th, 2022.
A view of the Parley’s Canyon Fire from the ridgeline
Charcoal collected from the forest fire
After collecting a large bucket full of charcoal pieces from the fire site, we processed the charcoal into a fine powder using a coffee grinder and a sifter. Then, the charcoal powder is mixed with acrylic medium to handle the outdoor elements and create a workable and durable paint.
This project literally uses ashes of a forest fire to make art and create intentions for a better future.
Additional Learning Resources.
Learn more about wildfires in the West.
Fighting Fire with Fire | How to Save a Planet Podcast
“From California's crimson skies to smoke so thick along Colorado's front range that sent people indoors for days, this year has been an especially bad one for extreme wildfires. On today's episode, we ask, how did the wildfires get so bad – and what can we do to address them?”
Fire Ecology with Gavin Jones | Ologies Podcast
“As so many of us around the globe are sharing in this burning sensation, what better time than now to sit down and fire off a lot of questions at Fire Ecologist, Dr. Gavin Jones. We talk about what fire is, how hot it burns, fire trends, tinderboxes, lots and lots of forest fire flim-flam, tolerant wombats, Angelina Jolie Movies, cunning pine cones, thick bark, Indigenous fire stewardship and more. This episode might get you pretty heated but that’ll only release seeds of new ideas and hope, because it's serotinous. That bad joke will make sense after you listen.”
Boulder Vs Hill | This American Life Podcast
“What the day-to-day business of saving the world looks like. We visit with one group of people who are trying to rescue us from something very large, and another group trying to rescue us from something very small.”
Wildfire Analysis and Tools to Combat | Vox.com
How Decades of Stopping Forest Fires Made Them Worse
The West is burning. Climate change is making it worse.
We Must Burn the West to Save It
We Can’t Just Run Away From Wildfires
Wildland Fire | US Forest Service
Firewise Program - How to Save Your Home from Wildfire | NFPA
Track Wildfires in the West | NY Times
Live wild fire tracker in the west keeps track of all active fires as well as where previous fires occurred. Also includes a smoke tracker to monitor AQI.