after
the fire
A muralist and photographer team up to
paint and memorialize the ruins of the Camp Fire in Paradise
BY SENA CHRISTIAN / PHOTOS: TERENCE DUFFY
rtist Shane Grammer knew he had to
paint the brick chimney the moment
he saw a photo of it — the only part of
a friend’s house in Paradise still stand-
ing after the Camp Fire devastated the
town. The fire started tearing through
the area on Nov. 8, 2018, becoming the
deadliest and most destructive wild-
fire in California history.
Grammer, who grew up in nearby Chico, saw so-
cial media posts from many childhood friends who
had lost their homes. When his friends, Shane and
Jennifer Edwards, posted a photo of their destroyed
house, he felt compelled to spray paint a mural of a
woman with the chimney as his canvas. He had only
intended to create that one mural, which he com-
pleted on New Year’s Eve, and returned home to Los
Angeles where he works as a freelance artist in the
theme-park industry. Soon other displaced residents
asked him to do more. “As an artist, I’ve spent my life
trying to create art that moves people emotionally,”
Grammer says. He had found his calling. Over the
course of two weeks in Paradise, he painted 14 murals.
Grammer’s artwork was documented by photog-
rapher Terence Duffy for their project “Beauty From
the Ashes.” Duffy recalls the morning he drove to
the first site: “You pull in and you start to see fences
and these plastic white-picket fences melted. Then
you see the houses, and then all of a sudden you slow
down — I rolled down my windows and turned the
music off — and you see complete and utter devasta-
tion that you’re not even ready to see.”
Sacramento law firm Hughey Phillips covered the
team’s expenses. “I followed the Paradise Camp Fire
stories closely, and the images of total and complete
destruction of families’ homes and belongings were
heartbreaking,” says Partner Kevin Hughey. Then he
saw a photo of the first mural. “[Grammer] called me
a couple days later and explained the enormous emo-
tional impact his mural had on his friend’s family and
other Paradise victims. They were touching recounts
that, to me, conveyed the victims were happy to not
be forgotten about by people outside Paradise and,
more importantly, that Shane’s work provided them a
sense of hope and optimism about the future.”
Hughey introduced Grammer to Duffy (both
had previously done creative work for the law firm).
Hughey says his firm was thrilled to be involved in a
project that brought residents of Paradise at least a
“little relief, hope or encouragement for the future.”
Grammer says he has been blown away by the
positive response to the project and the hope it has
brought to the community. “It is something that has
stamped me as an artist forever.”
May 2019 | comstocksmag.com
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