Through the insight of ten visual artists and creative writers who have faced and addressed the wild fires that devastated southeast Australia and western United States of America in 2019-20, OUTPUT Art after Fire: A Folio aims to support those affected by fire. This is achieved by mentoring in field-based creative practice to make new artwork about their experiences.
The international pilot project, OUTPUT Art after Fire, included artists Alice Ansara, Karen Sedaitis, Karyn Thompson, Katherine Boland, Lee Grant and Rhonda Ayliffe from Australia together with Cara Despain, Kelly Ramsey, Emily Schlickman and Daniela Naomi Molnar from the United States. Each of these artists have used their personal experiences to guide their remote engagement with selected mentors. The Project mentors are: Kate Cole-Adams, Caren Florance and Heather Burness (AUS); Erika Osborne and Richard Saxton (USA).
Online webinars are facilitated via Zoom to mentor reviews of work-in-progress and group ‘show & tells’. Artists can also use this experience to network across Australia and the USA to develop supportive links based on their individual art production.
OUTPUT Art after Fire is facilitated jointly by South East Arts and FieldScreen International and is supported by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade through their Australian Cultural Diplomacy Grants Program.