Sonoma County commissions artist, secures site for memorial to honor victims of 2017 wildfires

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors today approved agreements with award-winning landscape sculptor Cliff Garten and the City of Santa Rosa to create a memorial that will honor victims of the 2017 wildfires. 

The memorial will be placed in Nagasawa Community Park in Santa Rosa’s Fountaingrove neighborhood, the first choice of a task force established by the Board of Supervisors in 2022 to evaluate locations and select an artist. 

“This memorial will serve as a sanctuary for reflection and healing, a place that recognizes our grief while reminding us of our resilience,” said Supervisor Lynda Hopkins, chair of the Board of Supervisors. “It will stand as a powerful tribute to all we lost in the 2017 wildfires — 24 people and 5,300 homes in Sonoma County alone. But even more, it will reflect how we came together, rebuilt, and began anew.” 

The memorial will be designed during a robust 16-week community engagement and design process starting in early 2026. This process will allow fire survivors, residents and other stakeholders to help shape the memorial’s form and ensure it reflects the community’s experiences, needs and hopes. Fabrication and installation are expected to take approximately one year after a final design is approved by the Fire Memorial Task Force, a seven-person panel representing fire victims, first responders and the local arts community. 

The Fire Memorial Task Force selected Cliff Garten Studio for the $320,000 commission following a competitive bid process that drew 83 submissions from artists around the world. Garten, a sculptor and landscape architect based in Venice, Calif., has completed major memorial projects across the country, including tributes to U.S. veterans in Walnut Creek and Las Vegas and the “I Am A Man” plaza in Memphis honoring civil rights activists. His civic sculptures have received national recognition from Americans for the Arts, the American Society of Landscape Architects and the CODAworx Awards. 

Total costs are estimated at $536,000. Community Foundation Sonoma County provided a $100,000 grant for the project, which is overseen by Creative Sonoma, a division of the County’s Economic Development Collaborative. 

“This project is rooted in listening. We intentionally selected an artist, not a design, because we wanted someone who could work collaboratively with the people most impacted by the 2017 fires,” said Tara Thompson, director of Creative Sonoma. “Cliff Garten was selected because of his skill at engaging communities and transforming their stories into thoughtful public spaces. The design will come later, after he has spent time hearing directly from those who lived through the fires.” 

Residents can participate in the engagement process by signing up on the Creative Sonoma website at creativesonoma.org/fire.

Under the agreement with the City of Santa Rosa, the County may use up to one acre of Nagasawa Community Park for installation and long-term maintenance of the memorial. The artwork will be located at the south end of the park alongside the parking lot. 

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Media Contact: 
Ted Appel, Communications Specialist 
publicaffairs@sonomacounty.gov 
(707) 565-3040 
575 Administration Drive, Suite 104A
Santa Rosa, CA 95403