The Creative Wildfire project stands for different kinds of fires, fires that benefit the environment and our communities, fires that give birth to new life. For millennia, fire has played an important role in the health of ecosystems and in indigenous stewardship practices.
With Creative Wildfire, we want to fan the flames that arise from artistic sparks, we want to feed the fire to devour the extractive systems that cause harm to our communities, and make space for new ways of thinking, being, collaborating, providing, and caring for each other.
Creative Wildfire is a collaboration between three organizations that are paving the way towards a just transition - Climate Justice Alliance, Movement Generation, and New Economy Coalition. Last year they invited 19 artists and cultural workers to create art inspired by their manifesto.
Seven of those artists and cultural workers have curated an interactive gathering of workshops and discussion inviting the public to explore, reflect, and process topics like grief, disability justice, regenerative economics, the value of arts and culture in the just transition, and more!
Schedule
*Will be updated with more details*
Doors Open: 12:30pm
September 17th
1:00 - 2:30pm: Creating a New Normal Workshop with Loisse
A guided hands-on creative activity to reflect on the grief and growth as a result of the pandemic.
3:00 - 5:00pm: Story Share & Zinemaking with Crystal
Participants will gather and start with sharing our own grounding practices that have assisted us in metabolizing grief, stress and anxiety. Using blank templates provided in the space we will fill the pages with these methods in written and illustrated instructionals, collaboratively made. These works can be reproduced on a copy machine and disseminated.
5:30 - 6:30pm: Returning To Turtle Island with Karen & Diana
Participants will engage in a centering exercise, learn what represents our current economy vs. a regenerative one, and engage in dialogue around their thoughts, feelings, and ideas of the different economies.
6:30 - 8:00pm: Browse art and vibe with community
September 18th
1:00 - 2:00pm: We Will Build a New Compass with Chiara
Reading from Chiara's book, "We Will Build a New Compass", and conversation focused on disability justice. We Will Build a New Compass: Magic Moments of Seeding More Just Worlds is a story of breaking intergenerational cycles of violence and imagining more liberated futures. It connects the experiences of teen parenthood, disability, queerness, and immigration to larger patterns of oppression and resistance. It also looks for possibilities beyond trauma and explores ways of developing tools for healing and creating collective strategies for structural change.
2:30 - 3:30: Discussion
How can artists and organizations move from transactional to collaborative relationships? What are best practices when organizations and artists are collaborating? How can we intentionally weave artists into organizing work? Creative Wildfire artists and Elizabeth Yeampierre from Uprose will be conversation about the role of artists and cultural workers in the just transition.
4:30 - 5:30: Offers & Needs Market with Ebony
6:00 - 7:00pm: Live Music
7:00 - 8:00: Browse art and vibe with community
**The venue capacity is limited to 20 people, registration is required but does not guarantee entry. Please arrive early - it is first come, first serve
Accessibility
*Wheelchair accessible and roof access requires one step
*Masks will be required - we will have masks available
Can't make it in person but still want to tune in virtually? We will be livestreaming from Climate Justice Alliance's Instagram and Zoom. For Zoom access, register here
Questions? Reach out to cwstewards@gmail.com
Artist Bios:
Loisse Ledres is a Filipina freelance designer and illustrator. She loves exploring how image, text and color intersects with culture to empower and mobilize people. Through her work in experiential design and mixed media, Loisse is passionate about designing multidimensional spaces that facilitate inspiration, exploration and creation. Loisse hopes to continue creating art that allows everyone to access their creativity and use it to uplift their communities.
IG - @geezloisse
Chiara Francesca Galimberti is a queer disabled artist, writer, organizer, acupuncturist, former teen mother, first-gen college grad, and Italian immigrant to the occupied Indigenous territories currently known as the United States. Chiara has been involved in movements for justice for over two decades, with a focus on gender violence prevention, healing justice, and politicized artmaking. They have written and spoken on a wide variety of topics including disability justice, accessible healthcare, and using art as a tool for structural change.
IG - @chiara.acu
Crystal Clarity is a teaching artist, illustrator, printmaker, art director, dream weaver, and visual strategist for movement moments. She brings 15+ years experience directing community mural projects across New York City and beyond. She activates her talents with the singular objective of magnifying our collective ability to imagine and lean into a better world. Her praxis is a passionate sharing of that knowledge through focused mentorship, skill building and leadership development of the next generation of movement artists.
IG - @msclarity83
Diana is a Afro-Dominicana speaker, 1st degree black belt in Taekwondo and plumber.
IG - @TheAdventuresOfYugi
Karen is a Queens born, Colombian-raised, peer educator and graphic designer based out of Westchester.
IG - @ArtByKhosa
Robin Crane is a multimedia storyteller, solidarity economy nerd, and tender plant tender. With a focus on film, animation, and participatory media they spotlight community-driven solutions, working with organizations to shift narratives in support of a more regenerative economy where all can thrive. They are queer and have ancestors from north and west Europe, now home-making on Ohlone Land, Oakland, CA.
IG - @reeverthingproject
Ebony Gustave is a cultural organizer, community architect, and storyteller. They are the host of Cooperative Journal podcast, an archive of interviews highlighting international examples of the solidarity economy. As a co-steward of its multimedia umbrella, they are bridging the gaps between political education, imagination, co-creation, and actualization. The common thread between all of her work is bringing awareness to and activating solutions for collective autonomy, care, and trust.
IG - @cooperativejournal