FELLED: The Impact of Race & Forestry in Northern Arizona
Exhibition Dates: October 24, 2026 – February 13, 2027
FELLED: The Impact of Race & Forestry in Northern Arizona, through Art Oct 2026 – Jan 2027 artistically explores the complex history and lasting impact of the early timber industry in Northern Arizona that relied on skilled African American lumber workers. While the American logging industry’s iconography tends to be rooted in Paul Bunyan and French-Canadian lore, another compelling factual story of race at the foundation of the forestry trade in the Western U.S. is under-documented and underrepresented. This exhibition enlists contemporary artists, engaging with archives and the forested environment, to create informed works that interpret, represent, and disseminate the true legacy of the timber industry in Northern Arizona.
FELLED follows Coconino Center for the Arts’ collaborative Arts, Science & Culture model with a steering committee of experts that include African American, Latino, and Indigenous representatives guiding selected artists through an experiential educational curriculum. The result will be an exhibition of new contemporary works juxtaposed with archival elements including oral history interviews, documents, photographs, and memorabilia.
Guest artist/curator Chip Thomas (a.k.a. Jetsonorama) has first-hand experience with and related research on the themes in this project. Thomas, an African American artist, spent 36 years as a medical physician living on the Navajo Nation before retiring to Flagstaff. He brings a unique perspective and experience to this exhibition that stems from his previous Painted Desert Project (2012-2023), a community-based street art project on the Navajo Nation. Thomas has completed 2 curatorial projects for Fort Garland Museum and Cultural Center including a project examining the role of the Buffalo Soldiers during the “Indian Wars” (2023) and Native Enslavement in the San Luis Valley (2021).
Selected artists will engage in lectures and workshops, immerse in archives, and travel to significant sites throughout Arizona, gaining meaningful insight on the timber industry. They then have a year to create informed thematic works for Felled, which will be exhibited in a major exhibition at CCA. Collaborating community partners include the Lived Black Experience, recognized for their important oral history documentation of Flagstaff’s Southside residents along Route 66, with members of Northern Arizona University, the U.S. Forest Service, and Fisk University supporting exhibition planning and programming.
