After a yearlong search, a seven-member panel overseeing a planned memorial for victims of the 2017 North Bay firestorm has selected Southern California artist Cliff Garten to lead the project and is now inviting the public to help shape the memorial’s design. The art project is facilitated by Creative Sonoma, the county’s arts agency.
Garten was selected from more than 80 artists nationwide who submitted qualifications, work samples and statements describing their approach to the project, said Tara Thompson, Creative Sonoma’s director.
“(Garten) stood out because of his professional experience with projects similar to this,” Thompson said, noting that the artist has a way of absorbing information from the community to understand how a design can best represent people’s feelings, hopes and memories in a meaningful and impactful way.
Garten will receive up to $320,000 to cover all costs associated with creating the memorial, which will be installed at Nagasawa Community Park in Santa Rosa’s Fountaingrove neighborhood. The park sits within the burn scar of the Tubbs Fire, near Fountaingrove Parkway, an area where nearly 1,600 homes were destroyed.
Twenty-four people died in Sonoma County during the Tubbs and Nuns fires, which together destroyed more than 5,300 homes. The fires, which began the night of Oct. 8, 2017, claimed 40 lives across Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino and Lake counties.
Garten, whose public art projects include I Am a Man Plaza in Memphis, which honors Martin Luther King Jr. and the 1968 Sanitation Workers’ Strike, said community engagement is central to his process.
“Many times, the conversation(s) that occur before the memorial is made are as important as the memorial itself,” he said.
While the primary goal of the Sonoma County memorial is to honor those directly affected by the fires, Garten said the project also touches on a broader national conversation about climate change and wildfires. The issue became personal to him last January, when the Palisades and Eaton fires burned within three miles of his Venice studio. This happened shortly after he interviewed with the Creative Sonoma task force and visited the site at Nagasawa Park.
“It was kind of a wake-up call that the fire is with us and we’re going to have to learn how to live with it,” he said. “I hope that’s part of the conversation also.”
Garten said his role is to translate the community’s emotions into a lasting work of art.
“It’s an intense process for me as an artist, because I’m trying to get it right,” he said.
Beginning in March, Garten and the memorial task force will gather public input through meetings and focus groups, Thompson said. Residents can sign up on Creative Sonoma’s website to receive notifications about opportunities to participate.
Thompson said that while years have passed since the 2017 fires, the loss remains immediate for many people, reflecting a wide range of experiences with the tragedy. She encouraged community members, wherever they are in their own healing process, to share their perspectives.
“If you feel inclined to give us your input so that the design of this memorial can reflect your thoughts, please participate,” she said.
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