Fire Ecology is the practice of maintaining ecosystem health by using controlled fires to burn old growth, thereby fertilizing the soil, and clearing space for new growth to thrive. Drawing inspiration from Gramsci’s oft-quoted observation that “the old is dying and the new cannot be born…,” this project asks if we might bring forward a thoughtful sunsetting approach to supplant traditional practices of survival-at-any-cost, which too often conclude in a sudden end. The goal is to transform the operations of this 20th-century organization into a single curatorial project of interlocking research and programs to ultimately enrich the ground from which 21st-century models and practices will emerge.

Through this work, Art Papers’ legacy will be celebrated by demonstrating a model for a meaningful, controlled, conclusion of operations—in this case, in 2026, at 50 years. Fire Ecology envisions the final three years of the institution as one cohesive arc, predicated upon transparency and institutional vulnerability. It will include facilitated collective research, public programs series, documentation and assessment, community input/feedback, and published resources—online and in print. The final issue of ART PAPERS magazine, in 2026, will culminate the Fire Ecology theme by disseminating knowledge gained and propositions made throughout the project’s duration.