Calliope Coffey “5 Years After East Troublesome” – 2026 Winner

Calliope Coffey – “5 Years After East Troublesome”

Richmond, VA

Division I: 14–18 Years Old

Watercolor and ground burnt wood mixed with glue on paper, projection

After hiking through a wildfire scar in Colorado left by the East Troublesome Fire of 2020, the fastest moving wildfire in state history, I was astonished by the contrast of the beautiful regrowing grasses and the gruesome burnt trees. The fire, the result of a record-breaking drought, became a symbol for me of the destruction and violence of climate change, but also a symbol of hope and regrowth. I used a piece of charcoal from the burn zone to create pigment to paint the trees with faces and silhouettes because there was something very human about the shapes of the trunks. Our survival is so intertwined with the forests. I included a description of the fire in the sky to represent the weight I felt walking through the forest.