The Northern Colorado Fireshed Collaborative, in partnership with the Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forests, Artist-in-Residence Program brings together art, forests, fire, and community.

The program invites artists to spend time immersed in Northern Colorado’s forests, exploring landscapes and ecosystems shaped by both planned and unplanned fire. Through their creative practice, artists are encouraged to interpret the complex relationship between people, forests, wildfire, and proactive forest management.

We believe art can help tell the story of our forests in ways that science and data alone cannot. By creating opportunities for people to experience these landscapes through an artist’s perspective, the program aims to build deeper connections to our forests, encourage conversations about wildfire and forest resilience, and help communities develop a more nuanced relationship with fire.

Selected artists spend a one-week residency at the historic Red Feather Assistant Ranger Cabin, using the surrounding Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forests as inspiration for new work.

Following each residency, completed artwork becomes part of a traveling NoCo Fireshed exhibit, bringing stories of Northern Colorado’s forests and fire to communities across the region.