Aspen-based artist and film director Ajax Axe, the founder of the arts-based, climate-related advocacy group Kairos Futura, is redefining how art, activism and community engagement intersect. The group seeks to empower artists, address environmental challenges and engage local communities in futurist thinking.
The Sopris Sun recently spoke with Axe, who is currently working at a Kairos sister site in Nairobi, Kenya, about her interest in futurism and social activism. These interests led her to create Kairos Futura, an organization designed to give artists and communities a platform to address critical issues.
After achieving success in the art world with solo exhibitions in the U.S., Axe realized something was missing. She found herself frustrated by the lack of agency artists had in shaping their narratives, particularly in the rigid structures of galleries and museums, which often emphasize commercial viability over social or environmental concerns.
“The more I got involved with the art world, the more frustrated I felt by the lack of agency that artists have in creating their narratives and their spaces,” Axe said. “There’s a lot of pressure on artists to exhibit commercially viable work, especially in galleries. I’m interested in art for social change and environmental issues.”

Future possibilities
“Futurists think about the future of humanity, but more specifically, within different industries and communities. I wanted to start doing more projects that were about community engagement,” Axe explained.
Kairos Futura took shape in 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when Axe and a small group of artists launched the Aspen Space Station and “The Burnt States Federation” installations, situated on the backside of Aspen Mountain.
“The concept is that the entire Western United States burns in the coming 30 years and is eventually abandoned by people because insurance won’t cover people’s houses anymore,” she shared.
Space races led by the world’s two wealthiest people — Elon Musk’s SpaceX aiming for Mars colonization and Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin envisioning space habitats — sparked dialogue by participants on key issues about our planetary fate, which remains a critical topic grounded in the here and now.
“Our pledge for the Space Station project was: Stay on Earth. Enjoy it. Stop thinking we can torch this planet and escape to another one,” Axe shared.

Hyper-local projects
In tandem with its work in Aspen and Nairobi, Kairos Futura also leads projects with local artists, designers, scientists and environmentalists in the Lamu Archipelago, located in the Indian Ocean close to the northern coast of Kenya.
“Kenya is on the frontlines regarding major climate change. The desertification of the Sahel and Sahara regions is accelerating, and the two largest refugee camps in the world, which are populated by people fleeing conflicts fueled by climate change, are located here,” Axe offered.
Kairos Futura projects are deeply rooted in the communities they serve. Regardless of the locale, the organization begins by conducting extensive research and conversations with community members to identify critical issues. In Kenya, the team is largely made up of local residents, ensuring that the initiatives reflect the concerns and challenges faced by the people in those regions.
“Every project we do is with local community partners. We always focus on a hyper-local lens when thinking about futurist issues,” Axe said.
One example of Kairos Futura’s impact in Kenya is its work on water contamination in Nairobi. Collaborating with local scientists and artists, the organization created micro wetlands to clean contaminated river water, allowing communities to use it safely for gardening and other needs.

Aspen’s Burn Zone Lab
A recent initiative in Aspen is the Burn Zone Lab, designed by Carbondale-based artist Chris Erickson and developed in collaboration with the U.S. Forest Service and Wilderness Workshop. The project focuses on ecosystem restoration in areas affected by wildfires.
Emily Kay, Wilderness Workshop’s philanthropy director, said the partnership with Kairos included bringing in artist Hannah Rothstein to highlight climate issues through art.
Known for her reimagined WPA-style posters in a series titled “National Parks 2050,” Rothstein depicts a future shaped by unchecked climate change. She spent time in the Lake Christine burn area, worked on a habitat restoration project there, and created three posters showing “how industrial development fragments wildlife habitat and damages large-scale landscape conservation efforts on public lands,” Kay said.
Kay hopes that the collaboration of art and advocacy will engage a new audience.
As Kairos Futura continues to expand its projects, Axe encourages more people to get involved by donating or spearheading community-focused initiatives. “If you have an issue you’re passionate about, we’re always willing to help realize a social change or environmentally focused project in your community,” Axe said.

For more information about Kairos Futura, visit www.thefutureisonearth.org