Enersto and Illana Martinez of Las Vegas, NM

Community Story Circles were public events hosted from January - June 2023 in communities impacted by the Calf Canyon and Hermit’s Peak wildfires. The main intention for the gatherings was to open an inclusive and accessible space for people to share their stories and to connect with one another in this process. Stories and experiences gathered from these sessions are in process of being archived on the story quilt and soundwork.

In reciprocity for people’s generous storytelling we offered home-cooked meals, resources for land restoration and labor.  

The story circles focused on asset framing developed by Trabian Shorters, which approaches community work by primarily defining assets and aspirations, instead of shortcomings.

In this way, the story circles aspire to promote resilience from places of value, acknowledgement, and inherent worth. The reality however, is that many of the story circles actually became grief circles. It was difficult (and sometimes impossible) for those most impacted by the fires to share stories of gratitude or happy memories - because everything they had was taken away from them.

These grieving circles provided a space of holding one another, building community, and sharing lived experiences and sharing resources. The complexity of our time, and this project, is to simultaneously hold and metabolize this spectrum. 

These circles were held in collaboration and partnership with Neighbors Helping Neighbors who we love and appreciate beyond expression. Thank you specifically to Janna Lopez, Gloria Pacheco, and Ragan Matteson for believing in and supporting this project.