MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Museum & Art Center will host Wildfire Safety Day on Saturday as part of its ongoing Free Family Saturday series. The event is in conjunction with Washington State University’s Wildfire Perspectives Team. 

“The event is all about using arts-based methods and activities to engage the public and thinking about their understandings of wildfire, their experiences with it, as well as what they wonder about wildfire, what they're curious about, what they wish they knew more about,” said Dr. Molly Kenton, a researcher with WSU who’s coordinating the university’s side of the event. 

Free Family Saturday traditionally involves some sort of hands-on art for all ages, and that’s a part of this event as well. There will be a free-form art station with paints and decoupage for anyone who wants to get creative. 

“It's just giving people the opportunity to create what they'd like to create,” Boyd said. “It can be around our theme of wildfires and wildfire prevention, but we're not going to yank the paint out of anybody's hand if they want to paint a puppy or something. Just come in and make some art. You get to make the mess here, and then we clean it up and you don't have to get your kitchen table involved.” 

There will also be an immersive sensory space in the Civic Center Auditorium down the hall, with video and audio so people can get a safe experience of wildfire and maybe formulate their thoughts about it. Refreshments will be served in the form of Popsicles, Boyd said. 

“It seemed like a good fit for a hot day when we’re going to be talking about fire,” she said. 

Wildfire Safety Day is also an opportunity for the team from WSU to assess the public’s understanding of wildfire and their needs as far as wildfire education, Kenton said. As part of the project, a few people will be taken aside to answer a few questions on the subject, and they’ll get a $40 gift card for their participation. 

Entries from the museum’s photography contest “Wind, Water and Fire” will be displayed Saturday as well, Boyd said. There are about 25 entries, many of them dealing with fire, and the exhibit will run through Aug. 30. 

Wildfires are an important topic now in the Northwest, Kenton said, and the WSU research team is trying to approach it in a big-picture way. 

“If you think about something like wildfire, (it’s) being able to make connections between that and climate change, something very global, or also being able to connect that to daily issues like ‘Can I send my kid to summer camp this morning because of the air quality,’” she said. “We're here to listen to the public and try to understand their experiences with wildfire and what they might need and want from educators.”