EXHIBITION DATES:
August 28 - January 31
The Gallery @ Hotel Willa, Taos, New Mexico
With Monthly Programming Across Taos County
JOIN US:
Opening Reception, August 28, 5pm
The Gallery @ Hotel Willa, Taos, New Mexico
PROJECT PARTNERS
Disturbance: The Art and Ecology of Change brings together artists, scientists, land practitioners, and community members to examine wildfire as both a destabilizing force and a generative ecological process.
In partnership with Del Fuego and The Forest Stewards Guild, Disturbance serves as The Paseo Project’s primary program of research, artistic creation, and public engagement in 2026. The project opens on August 28, 2026, with a community exhibition and continues through January 2027 with free programs and events across Taos County.
Disturbance began with an open call that brought together artists working across disciplines. In April, the selected artists participated in a four-day Fire Ecology Boot Camp in Northern New Mexico, where they met with fire practitioners, ecologists, foresters, land stewards, scientists, and community knowledge holders. Through field visits, presentations, and shared discussions, the artists explored the ecological, cultural, and emotional dimensions of wildfire.
Following the gathering, the artists returned to their studios for three months of research and artmaking. The resulting works—including installation, sculpture, film, sound, performance, and participatory projects—come together in the opening exhibition and continue to unfold through workshops, talks, screenings, field experiences, youth programs, and community events throughout the fall and winter.
Disturbance is conceived as a living platform for reflection, dialogue, and shared learning—asking how we understand change, how we live with fire, and how creative practice can help our communities navigate a climate-altered future.
Meet the Artists
Alexis Hagestad
Amanda Lee
Avi Farber
Cedar Rose Silverado
Cori Champagne
Jonathan Warm Day Coming
Erika Osborne
Juanita Lavadie
Pola Lopez
Rachel Briggs
Yhoshua Gutierrez
Life in the Southwest is becoming increasingly uncertain. As the climate becomes hotter and drier, drought, wildfire, and other ecological changes are reshaping both our landscapes and our communities. Our natural response is often fear, grief, or a desire to return to the way things were.
But another collective response is possible.
In ecology, a “disturbance” is an event that reorganizes an ecosystem, altering relationships among species while creating new possibilities for life. The forests, grasslands, and rivers of Northern New Mexico evolved with recurring disturbance, and their resilience depends on it.
Disturbance: The Art and Ecology of Change asks what might happen if we expand that ecological idea to our own lives and communities. By bringing scientific understanding into conversation with artistic expression, the project hopes to cultivate a community better equipped not only to understand ecological change, but to accompany it with courage, creativity, and care. Just as ecosystems reorganize after disturbance, communities can too. Through exhibitions, field experiences, conversations, and shared acts of creativity, Disturbance invites us to imagine that reorganization together—not by returning to the world we remember, but by learning how to accompany the one that is emerging.
Meet the Scientists
Andrea E Thode
Camille Stevens-Rumann
Ellis Q. Margolis
Jose M. Iniguez
Matthew Hurteau
Serra Hoagland
Opening Weekend
Friday, August 28, 2026
5 - 10 PM
Opening Reception
The Gallery @ Hotel Willa , 233 Paseo del Pueblo Sur, Taos, NM
Art Exhibition featuring the eleven participating artists. Food, family activities, music, storytelling, outdoor installations, and screening of Disturbance mini-documentry. Free
Saturday, August 29, 2026
9:30 - 11 AM
Coffee with Disturbance Artists & Scientists
The Gallery @ Hotel Willa , 233 Paseo del Pueblo Sur, Taos, NM
Meet the people behind the work. The Disturbance Team, Artists, and Scientists will be on site.
*
11 - 1 PM
Disturbance at Twirl Taos STEAM Saturday at Twirl: Fire, Forests & the Future!
225 Cam De La Placita, Taos, NM
Disturbance Art and Ecology workshop exploring wildfire, forest ecology, and regeneration through hands-on activities with scientists, artists, and wildland fire specialists. Families will experiment, create, and discover how fire shapes our forests. All ages welcome!
*
11 - 3 PM
Disturbance Field Trips
Carson National Forest, El Valle Burn Scar
Join us in the forest. Disturbance artists and scientists provided walking tours, talks, and activites for the entire family. Bring a picnic lunch and water.
*
3 - 5 PM
"Look Up" Artist Workshop
The Gallery @ Hotel Willa , 233 Paseo del Pueblo Sur, Taos, NM
“Look Up” a community art project to nurture appreciation of ephemerality and resilience, with c marquez
Sunday, August 30, 2026
5 PM
PechaKucha Night: Disturbance Edition
7K Studios, 36 Espinoza Rd, Ranchos De Taos
4pm doors open, 5pm showtime, after party DJ with tours of 7k, food by Aceq and Drinks by Rolling Still
Sponsors & Partners
Individual Donors
Anonymous, Tom Rogers, Janet Webb, Happy Price, Andrea Szekeres, Bob & Linda Warning, Romy Colonius, Elizabeth Crittenden Palacios, Kristin Swim, Viviette Hunt, Santiago Vaca, Erika Zetty, J3 Fund, Ria Burnett, Linda & Bob Warning, Liz Gilbert
Crown Fire Level:
Town of Taos
Taos County
National Forest Foundation
LOR Foundation
Southwest Fire Science Consortium
New Mexico Association of Counties
Surface Fire:
Taos Community Foundation
Revolt Gallery
NM Arts
Taos Ski Valley
Hotel Willa
Ground Fire:
The Nusenda Foundation
Chevron
Paradise Power Company
Kindling:
KNCE True Taos Radio
Taos Net / Brownrice
Partners:
Twirl, Taos Center For the Arts, Joint Fire Science Program, Taos Soil & Water Conservation District, Village of Questa, New Mexico State Forestry Division, LEAP, UNM-Taos, Friends of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, Wild and Scenic Rivers/BLM · US Forest Service, Peñasco Theater, San Jose' De Garcia Church, Taos Soil & Water Conservation District, Rocky Mountain Youth Corps, True Kids 1, La Merced de Santo Tomás Apóstol del Río de Las Trampas, Oregon State University Extension Service, Taos Historic Museums
Special Thank You to:
Kathleen Brennan, Sayer Danforth, Nate Cordova, Cecilia Shields, Gerorge Allalunis, Angie Krall, Grace Powell, Wilbert Rodriguez, PechaKucha Taos, The Gonzales, Garcia and Santistevan Families, Scott Sutton, c marquez, Mark Wagner, Claire Cote, Lee Akins, Arielle Christian, Lynne Robinson, Doug Davis, Jackie Sayet
Educational Partners and Schools:
Twirl, Taos Charter School, Arroyos Del Norte Elementary School, Anansi Charter School, Taos Academy, Penasco Independent School District, Roots and Wings Community School, Taos Integrated School of the Arts, Enos Elementary School, Ranchos Elementary School, Taos High School, Taos Public Library, Taos Behavioral Health, Questa Independent School District, Taos International School, Red River Valley Elementary School, Taos Day School, Oo-Oo-Nah Art & Cultural Center. Imagine Children’s Museum, Embudo Valley Library, Collaborative Teacher’s Institute