Flame rises from the Anagama Kiln chimney during the overnight shift of the January 2024 firing workshop.

Photo credit: Katrina Yuan

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SOURCE MATERIAL:

ECOLOGICAL SUSTAINABILITY FUELS 10 YEARS OF WOOD-FIRE RESIDENCY AND EDUCATION

By Amanda Bury

Spark:
In 2014 Scott Parady began dreaming that his 80-acre property could support more than just his family. Since moving to the land in 2003, he has committed himself to reestablishing biodiversity and a healthy fire cycle through holistic land management practices. He envisioned an artist residency which combined the opportunities of a ceramic-centered program with the lived experience of becoming a better steward of the land through sustainable living practices and forest management skills.

Scott Parady:

“The practice that I have established at

CMAEP is intended to be sustainable and symbiotic.

This place is for focusing on personal ideas while

participating in a sustainable practice, and where they

meet can be a powerful and meaningful experience.”

This year the Cobb Mountain Art and Ecology Project celebrates 10 years of supporting sustainable land management and meaningful experiences for ceramics focused artists through the Resident Artist Programming.

Fuel:

The land at Cobb Mountain Art and Ecology Project (CMAEP) is home to a diverse range of often dense vegetation. Softer wood species such as Ponderosa Pine and Douglas Fir are plentiful and accompanied by various hardwood species, including canyon Live Oak, Black Oak, Manzanita, and Madrone.

Scott Parady:

“Part of the forest management plan is to thin dense trees and promote a diversity of species and age…more resources to fewer individual trees will make them stronger and more resilient

to changing climate, drought, fire, and pests.”  

Wood harvested through thinning is processed into fuel for kilns. The primary concerns and approach for land management has changed over the twenty years that Scott has been managing this land.

Scott Parady:

“Now, especially due to fire, I thin more aggressively, while keeping in mind that the forest is a system and many things work together to keep the system healthy.”

The health and variety of wood available for future harvesting is crucial for sustaining the annual demands to fuel large wood burning kilns for the Resident Artists and the Firing Workshop programming on site.

The large Anagama Kiln at CMAEP being fired.

Landscape of the CMAEP grounds during the Fall season.

Landscape of the CMAEP grounds during the Winter season.

Left: Crated cords of processed wood in storage in the CMAEP barn. Photo credit: Katrina Yuan.

The interior of the large Anagama Kiln during the loading of work.

2023-’24 Resident Artist Hunter Smith looks inside the Anagama Kiln during the January 2024 Firing Workshop.

The Wood-fire Residency positions are relatively new, established just last year. Initially a year long term with the option to renew for up to 3 years, it is the latest development in the growth of CMAEP.

Lucas Shick:

“I was drawn to the quiet atmosphere in the mountains, working with the kilns and long firings, and the incredible community that surrounds Cobb. As someone who wants to manage my own land someday and build a kiln/studio this is invaluable and will inspire how I do things in the future.”

Able to adapt and evolve over the last decade, Cobb Mountain Art and Ecology Project has continued to provide space for Resident Artists to make and grow while immersed at the unique intersection of the contemporary wood-fire ceramics field and ecological sustainability. For more information about workshops or residency you can visit www.cobbartandecology.org.