By Staff Writer: Grace Anders
Zaiah, a high school senior at Youth Initiative High School in Viroqua, WI, displayed her senior project to the public on March 8 at Sittin Pretty Farm. An incredibly talented young artist and writer, Zaiah has a story to tell through mixed media visual art and writing. Her art installation tells the story of a transformative day of rock climbing in the Wyoming mountains, during which a man she was belaying fell to his death. The man, named Remy, had a wife and two young children who witnessed the tragic accident. Zaiah had just met the family that day, but she stepped in to assist in attempting life-saving measures on Remy and escorted his family down the mountain when those measures failed. Zaiah’s art installation consists of 10 visual art pieces accompanied by essays that take the spectator on a journey of her experience: the feelings of guilt, the grief of Remy’s family, the PTSD he experienced after and the glimmer of hope that arose from witnessing the outpouring of community support that followed the incident. On the night Zaiah’s installation debuted, she worked with volunteers to sell woodfired pizzas and donated all the proceeds to Threshold Care Circle, a non-profit that provides post-life services and support. Zaiah’s goal was to draw a metaphor between the impermanency of human life and nature, create a space where people could reflect on the impact of loss on families and communities, and generate discussion about death and dying rituals while raising money for an organization that helps people navigate the aftermath of the loss of a loved one. As a spectator, I found Zaiah’s vulnerability through art profoundly moving and saw the realization of her goals.