AIF crew 2024
Sam Chadwick
Moscow, ID
Sam Chadwick is a MFA candidate at the University of Idaho. She grew up moving around the Pacific Northwest and is looking forward to exploring this region after completing her degree in May 2024. Her frequent moves have prompted her to look for a way to connect to the places she lives
through the natural world. She collects bark, charcoal, and other local plants to use for sculptural weaving and drawings. Through her interconnections of media and form, she works to capture the impacts of place.
Weaving with natural fibers such as bark has allowed her to reach into the past through ancient techniques and methods, while her landscape drawings act as memory placeholders that allow the viewer to see through her eyes. She experiences land as something that fundamentally connects all people together. In all that she weaves, she welcomes the viewer to consider their environment and how it too travels with them.
Sam's TREX reflection
My experience at WTREX was wonderful. We did not have many burn opportunities due to the weather, but every day was full of opportunities for learning. We learned about ignition patterns and methods for prescribed burning in the great plains, practiced medical emergencies and procedures, received presentations on mental health, psychological safety, allyship, privilege, native birds in the Nebraska prairie, fire management as a social process, weather reading for fire management, mapping, and GIS.
During meals and pockets of free time, and with the knowledge we would be there for such a short time, I felt I had to take every opportunity to learn more about the people who were brought together to this rural prairie in Nebraska. From so many different walks of life, I was given small windows in which I could observe and deepen my understanding of certain subjects. There were many plant nerds, so now I can identify more grasses and plants. There was a basket maker who shared techniques about willow processing and growing. One person taught us all a dance, another shared a history of Puerto Rico we don’t usually get the full picture of.
I was able to physically make “Little Things” throughout the event, many of which I gave away to other firefighters. It felt important for me to share my skills and experiences, as the others shared with me. As I distill my experience at WTREX into an artwork or series, I find myself thinking about the social dynamics of firefighting. I struggle to write exactly how, but it felt wholesome by including people’s diverse backgrounds and perspectives. I hope to make a piece that includes both fire’s role in the ecosystem and the people who make it happen.