‘Glowing Embers’ Forges Community Bonds

The Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art hosted a powerful, heartful, outdoor event February 20 that included stories, poems and live music about the significance of the 2008 Tea Fire. At the center of the gathering in Westmont’s formal garden was an installation, Glowing Embers, created by local artist Ethan Turpin and Jonathan PJ Smith, co-owner of the Environment Makers. The two used multiple video projectors to make the pine trees, which were scarred in the Tea Fire, appear as though glowing with fire from within.

The event included testimonials from President Gayle D. Beebe, Montecito Fire Marshals Alex Broumand and Aaron Briner and poetry by English professor emeritus Paul Willis. The museum commissioned an evocative string quartet piece from Daniel Gee, Westmont director of choral activities, who directed the premiere of “Agua Quemado” as the sun set. 

Turpin says his installation evokes what it’s like to stand in a place where fire has passed through just a few hours ago. “So perhaps, it’s a bit like going back in time to contemplate a patch of the Tea Fire and things the Westmont community learned and can share with new generations of students,” he says. “And it’s a way to empathize with people going through wildfires down south in L.A. 

“We create these art experiences of fire, which are safe simulations of being there as it burns, so that we can confront this reality of our landscape together. Wildfires get our attention when they break out, but attention shifts. Getting together to think and talk between fires gives us time to learn and take wise action. Fire is a part of the nature we are attracted to here, so I think that addressing its striking beauty and also its risk actually can make us safer as individuals and as a community.” 

He says events like this collect and bolster community, helping us become resilient together. “Many people told me they were struck by the way the visual of the embers became brighter and brighter as the dusk light faded to darkness,” he said. “This gradual transformation became more intense as the trees appeared to smolder and people told their stories of survival and growth.”