The sculptural and instructional valises will be used by the National Park Service and County Fire Department to teach about fire prevention, national forests, and our relationship to nature. Each valise has a theme with specific talking points, and all of them circle back toward teaching issues about fire abatement and our connection to wilderness. The female inmates at Camp 13 who have been trained as firefighters supplied the content for the valises through their experiences with firefighting and fire abatement methods. The process was organic in the sense that there was a two-way conversation between Abeles as artist-in-residence and the inmates regarding the development of the valises. The women supplied the content based on their experiences, and also responded to the artistic and content-driven outcomes. Participants worked alongside as well as with the artist on the elements of the valises. Some of the valises respond to discussions with park rangers regarding issues including fire prevention in residential areas especially those adjacent to forests; securing homes from wildlife entering and getting trapped, and conversely, encouraging wildlife through habitats; invasive plants vs native species; and citizen’s responsible use of parks and national forests. Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena held an exhibition that featured ten small, mixed media travel suitcases (known as "valises") created during a long-term collaboration between artist Kim Abeles and the female inmates of Camp 13—a correctional facility in the Santa Monica Mountains for women who are trained and deployed to fight forest fires throughout the region. The valises will be used as educational tools at public events by the National Park Service and Los Angeles County Fire Department to teach the public about fire prevention, national forests, and our relationship to nature. This project was managed by Armory Center for the Arts and was made possible with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Los Angeles County Arts Commission.
• the Coulter pine is native to the coastal mountains of Southern California and it speaks to the majesty of pines as well as the endangered and decreasing population of this species
• numerous Coulter pines were destroyed in the recent Thomas fire, and now, one of the few remaining stands of this tree is in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada
• a discussion of the wilderness and “ecosystem management” is part of this discussion
• this Coulter pine cone is meant to involve the viewer, and it weighs 3 pounds, 12” x 7”, and will be displayed as if it’s the Hope Diamond. Wearing a helmet is required to recover these, and it has been boiled so that the sap has covered it
• the relationship of decorative pine cones is a talking point to draw the viewer into a better understanding of wilderness fires (including the way seeds emerge during the fires)
• encourages discussion of fire abatement, fire hazard reduction tips, and an understanding of controlled fires with the use of drip torches