Disturbance 2026 Education Program

About:

Disturbance: Youth Education is a STEAM-based arts education initiative engaging approximately 25 fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms across Questa, Taos, Ranchos, Talpa, and Peñasco. Led by The Paseo Project in partnership with Twirl, the program invites students to explore fire ecology, disturbance science, storytelling, and creative expression through hands-on workshops that integrate science and art.

Students participate in two classroom workshops that combine environmental science concepts with experiential, embodied art-making. Their work culminates in a large-scale, immersive public installation and four-day community event:

DISTURBANCE: A Forest in Motion

A Youth Art & Ecology Installation (October 1-5, 2026)

Presented at The Taos Center for the Arts Stables Gallery this multi-site experience centers youth voices and regional ecological knowledge within a professional public context. Students transform fire ecology learning into a walk-through forest environment exploring growth, density, disturbance, regeneration, and ecological balance.


Program Goals

  • Increase student understanding of fire ecology and disturbance science

  • Foster creative problem-solving through STEAM learning

  • Connect youth to local landscapes, scientists, artists, and cultural institutions

  • Amplify student voices through a professionally presented public installation and event series

  • Engage educators and community members in shared ecological learning experiences

Program Activities

  • Up to two one-hour STEAM-integrated workshops per classroom

  • Instruction serving approximately 500 students (grades 4-5)

  • Guest artist and scientist engagement

  • Student artwork documentation and exhibition preparation

  • Family- and community-centered public programming (October 1-5, 2026)

Four-Day Public Event Structure

October 1- STEAM Day (Students)

  • Regional STEAM experience for ~150 students

  • Immersive exploration of the youth installation

  • Hands-on art-making and fire ecology learning

  • Artist and Paseo Intern engagement

October 2- Educator Professional Development + Public Opening

  • Full-day educator institute in partnership with the Collaborative Teacher Institute and Imagine Children’s Museum

  • Evening public opening with tours, artist talks, and interactive programming

October 3-5- Public Exhibition Days

  • Open community access to the installation

  • Guided tours and youth-led interpretation

  • Hands-on art stations and ecological learning activities

Program Themes

Students are exploring:

  • Fire as a natural and necessary part of forest systems

  • What a healthy/historical forest looks like

  • Forest density, fuel loads, and regeneration

  • Community stewardship and resilience

  • Indigenous and scientific perspectives on fire ecology

The curriculum uses:

  • embodied learning

  • role-play

  • movement

  • systems-based games

  • collaborative discussion

  • sensory exploration

to help students understand the complexity of fire-adapted ecosystems in Northern New Mexico.


Student Experience

During the first classroom visit, students:

  • Build “living forests” with their bodies

  • Simulate overcrowded and healthy forests

  • Explore how fire spreads through different fuel conditions

  • Discuss the emotional and ecological realities of wildfire

  • Learn about regeneration and forest succession

During the second visit, students:

  • Respond artistically to ecological concepts

  • Create collaborative visual artworks

  • Develop pieces that will become part of a larger immersive community installation

Student Artwork in Development

Current student-created projects include:

  • mind maps and ecological systems drawings

  • word art created from student-generated fire ecology vocabulary

  • recycled plastic fire sculptures made from water bottles

  • cyanotypes

  • charcoal and ash drawings

  • pinch pots created with reclaimed local clay

  • ecological species studies

  • collaborative canopy and yarn web elements

The work combines:

  • science

  • ecology

  • systems thinking

  • storytelling

  • visual art

  • sensory experience

Youth Art Installation + Public Experience

The youth-created installation becomes a large-scale immersive ecological environment where visitors physically move through interconnected forest systems.

The current installation vision includes:

  • five ecological zones: growth, density, fire, regeneration, and return

  • suspended forest structures and sculptural elements

  • ecological webs and species drawings

  • soundscapes created with students

  • light and sensory installations

  • interactive participation stations

Visitors will move through ecological phases exploring:

  • growth

  • overcrowding

  • disturbance

  • after-fire transformation

  • regrowth

  • stewardship and balance

Interactive components may include:

  • planting seeds

  • contributing artwork

  • answering prompts such as:

    • “What is a healthy forest?”

    • “What role do humans play in forest systems?”

    • “What does resilience look like?”

The installation invites audiences to reconsider fire not simply as destruction, but as part of a living ecological cycle.


Become a Disturbance with us

Interested in hosting, supporting, or partnering with Disturbance: A Forest in Motion (2026)?

We welcome collaboration with schools, cultural institutions, scientists, artists, and community organizations committed to youth education, ecological literacy, and place-based learning.

Contact Us Here!