Signal Fire’s flagship program, Outpost, provides four artists at a time with an immersive residency on public lands. Each summer we bring selected artists out to the forest and provide them with food, maps, battery power, and a magnificent 12x12 canvas wall tent for work and sleep space. The tents are equipped with a desk, cot, and rug for a comfortable camping experience, as well as kitchen utensils and food for self-prepared breakfast and lunch. Each tent is set apart from the others, but within a short walk to a base camp. Signal Fire organizers are stationed at the base camp, available for emergency and unforeseen needs. The group gathers for dinner each evening, served by the organizers at the base camp.
This year’s Outpost Residency will take place in Mt. Hood National Forest, near Portland, Oregon. Mt. Hood is (in our humble opinion) the crown jewel of the Cascade Range. It’s also a complex and controversial landscape of over one million acres of federal land within two hours’ drive of over a million people. It’s home to six wilderness areas, dozens of popular recreational destinations, and a host of exploitative timber, mining, and energy transmission projects. It’s the landscape where Signal Fire was born, and we’re excited to return there for Outpost 2013, and to share it with eight new artists.
Although we strive to create a comfortable experience, the nature of the project means artists should be prepared for unpredictable weather and camping conditions. There are no bathrooms or running water, but we do provide one pair of deep cycle batteries for charging cameras, laptops, etc. Aside from service animals, no pets are permitted.
See photos of our past Outpost Residencies on 2010 resident Sarah Meadows’ blog, Owl, under "Signal Fire Residency."
Participants: Merrilee Challiss, Kurtis Hough, Kari Koch, Cielo Lutino
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