Paseo Project - Disturbance: The Ecology of Change in Nature and Society

Wildfire is rapidly reshaping ecosystems and communities across the Southwest and around the world. Once a natural cycle of renewal, fire has become increasingly destructive due to climate change, forest mismanagement, and human settlement in fire-prone areas. Disturbance seeks to complicate this narrative—examining fire not only as a force of loss and fear but also as an essential ecological process of adaptation and resilience.

Through a required four-day Northern New Mexico based “fire ecology boot camp,”selected artists will be immersed in collaborative dialogue with fire practitioners and ecologists, and site visits to burn scars and post-fire landscapes. Artists will then return to their home studios to develop new work that reflects on the ecological, cultural, and emotional dimensions of wildfire. These works will then be shared in an exhibition, outdoor installations, and public programs in Taos, NM, designed to engage the broader community in dialogue about living with fire in…