An arts initiative that invites us to shift our relationship with fire.
Art from our Pilot Year
Fire Says
Film by Max Savage
Performers: Silvi Alcivar, Ellen McGehee, Christina Simpson, James Jaffe, Ian Scarfe
A Walk to the Fire’s Edge
Film by Rob Wadleigh
Speakers: José Luis Duce Aragüés, Miller Bailey, Jeffrey Kane, Dan Kelleher, Stoney Timmons, Jordan Reyes, Margo Robbins, Erin Banwell, Wolfy Rougle, Lyle Johnson
-
![]()
Article by Ellen McGehee - Navigating a Cultural WUI: Immediate Post-Fire Effects of an Artistic Journey
-
![]()
Fire and Music 2024 Concert Program and Poster
-
![]()
Fire and Music 2024 Photo Collage
-
![]()
Poem by Silvi Alcivar for Avina Ranch Burn
-
![]()
Julie Zhu discusses "Solastalgia"
-
![]()
Tour Show Script with Audience Responses
-
![]()
Article by Ellen McGehee - Reciprocity through Art: The Fire and Music Project
Want to volunteer on a burn? Check out the California PBA website to find your local PBA. Get in touch to see how you can get involved!
What’s next for Fire and Music?
We’re developing new projects for 2026 with similar goals: to put artists through intensive curricula including history, fire ecology, site visits, and participation in burns. From that learning, they will create performances and compositions that will be shared in affected places in immersive concert experiences. The project is currently seeking funding to continue the work we’ve started. Please reach out via the Contact page with ideas or connections you think may be a good fit.
Artists working in policy change
Traditional indigenous land management in California centered around the intentional use of fire. Over a century of colonialism and agency-led fire suppression policy has left our landscapes neglected and more vulnerable to catastrophic wildfire and climate change.
Most people don’t understand this, or why they should care.
We believe musicians and artists are powerful cultural change makers, and should participate in policy change. Bringing them into a deeper ecological understanding through paid trainings, education, and active participation in fire on the land empowers them to carry this message through their storytelling.
Thank you to our supporters!
This activity is funded in part by the California Arts Council, a state agency, through the Upstate California Creative Corps program.
