At its heart, the Quake Mosaic was created to document and honor a community healing after trauma from a natural disaster. The impact of the October 2017 wildfires have eclipsed those of the 2014 earthquake and I have decided to expand the project scope.
I am redesigning the plan to include a special section for any remnants collected after the fire.I am currently reaching out to those impacted to ask for any objects they may want to donate to the mosaic. I am planning to rename the project as well, but have not yet settled on a new name.
Several friends lost their art studios and I am so grateful that they will be contributing recovered objects to the project. Calistoga painter and friend, Karen Lynn Ingalls, shared the following images of her barn, lost in the Tubbs Fire. As soon as the site is open to the public again, I will join her to collect some remnants to include in the mosaic.
Another artist friend, photographer Norma Quintana, also lost her home and studio. A consummate collector, she is sifting through the remnant of her home for objects to photograph in a new series entitled, "Forage from Fire".
This experience has served as a reminder that we live in a part of the world that is vulnerable to natural disaster. Earthquakes, floods, and fires happen constantly in California. It not only requires resilient, vigilant and responsive inhabitants, it creates opportunity for growth, change and new perspectives on what home means.