Fire Jockeys
Walter Productions Masters the Art of Flame at Canal Convergence
Writer Joseph J. Airdo // Photography Courtesy of Walter Productions
In the shadow of a 1950s film studio turned creative sanctuary, Kirk Strawn examines a DMX controller that will soon choreograph flames dancing across the Scottsdale Waterfront. It’s a fitting metaphor for Walter Productions — a collective that has spent more than a decade transforming salvaged machinery into spectacular art, and now stands as the beating heart of Canal Convergence’s most ambitious theme yet: “SHOWTIME.”
For the eighth consecutive year, Walter Productions returns to Canal Convergence (Nov. 7–16) not merely as participants, but as the festival’s emotional and pyrotechnic centerpiece. Its headline installation, “Showtime,” promises to capture the very essence of live entertainment through a marquee sign spelling “It’s Showtime” in vintage light bulbs, floating across the Arizona Canal while DMX-controlled isopropyl alcohol flames pulse in harmony with carefully curated musical performances.
“This is the first year we’ve created a marquee sign,” Strawn explains from Walter Studios, the former recording facility that now serves as one of four Walter-owned spaces across the Valley. “The sign features old-timey marquee lighting with those classic clear bulbs you’d see on vintage theater signs. It’s being fabricated right now and will be mounted on floats with our DMX-controlled isopropyl alcohol flame effects embedded directly into the signage.”
The journey from salvaged firetruck to Scottsdale’s signature art installation reads like an Arizona fever dream. In 2008, Strawn discovered the chassis that would become Walter the Bus — a 1963 Walter Airport firetruck previously stationed at Luke Air Force Base — rusting away at the Gold King Mine in Jerome.
“It’s essentially a heavy machinery graveyard where equipment goes to spend its final days,” Strawn recalls. “This particular chassis had become a playground for kids. People could climb all over it, operate the turret on top, and pretend they were driving it. The firefighter staircases wrapped around it made it feel like a jungle gym.”
That playful spirit of interaction would become Walter Productions’ signature. What began as a single converted vehicle evolved into a fleet of three Walter chassis and a philosophy that bridges high-concept art with hands-on community engagement. Strawn and his partner Mary — both medical professionals who met while caring for a child at the county hospital — spent five years touring festivals like Burning Man, Electric Daisy Carnival and Bonnaroo before returning to plant permanent roots in Arizona soil.
“Mary and I both trained in medicine here in the Valley — Mary at Phoenix Children’s Hospital and I at what’s now HonorHealth Osborne Hospital,” Strawn says. “Our roots in the Valley run over 30 years deep.”
Those medical backgrounds inform Walter Productions’ community-centered approach. The Walter family of companies now includes the nonprofit Walter Hive, where high-risk youth learn welding, LED programming and fine arts; Walter Station Brewery, which has even used SRP’s reclaimed and purified wastewater to brew beer specifically for Canal Convergence; and multiple fabrication spaces totaling 45,000 square feet. It’s a model that treats art-making as essential healthcare.
“The arts are incredibly important,” Strawn explains. “As a physician, I can say that creative self-expression is as essential as many other health-related activities — eating well, getting enough sleep, taking medication, reducing stress. When you’re creating things, it genuinely does something positive for you.”
This therapeutic philosophy extends to Walter Productions’ signature fire choreography, a skill developed through collaboration with Purdue University’s graduate program in aeronautical and astronautical engineering. Over five courses, graduate students designed flame effect prototypes that Walter Productions then deployed in public spaces — knowledge that proved crucial when Canal Convergence organizers approached them in 2018.
“Canal Convergence organizers had seen our work at Lost Lake [Music Festival] in Phoenix and approached us asking, ‘Can you do it in running water?’” Strawn remembers. “We said we had absolutely no idea whether we could. We’d never worked in the canals or dealt with current before, but we did understand how to safely deploy isopropyl alcohol flame effects through submerged lines that feed floating art pieces.”
The gamble paid off spectacularly. Each year since, Walter Productions has refined its “fire jockeying” — Strawn’s term for the real-time manipulation of flame effects through keyboard interfaces. Operators control preprogrammed sequences while expressing individual creativity, creating performances that bridge human artistry with technological precision.
“There are preprogrammed sequences because you can’t move your fingers as fast as some of the effects we’re capable of producing,” Strawn notes.
For “Showtime,” this choreographed fire will be embedded directly into marquee signage, while attendees can interact with the lighting between performances. It’s a perfect embodiment of Canal Convergence’s mission to blur the line between audience and performer — a theme that resonates deeply with festival organizers.
“From our music stage and site-specific dance performances to Walter Productions’ fire shows, choreographed live by the artists each night, the art of performance is an integral part of Canal Convergence’s identity,” says Jennifer Gill, deputy director of Canal Convergence. “By blurring the line between audience and performer through interactive and performative public artworks, Canal Convergence seeks to inspire deeper understanding and appreciation of the performing arts and their impact.”
That blurred line reflects Walter Productions’ broader impact on Arizona’s cultural landscape. Beyond Canal Convergence, it has produced events for companies like SpaceX, Google and Twitter, while its community programming through Walter Hive reaches thousands of participants annually. It’s a model that treats large-scale public art not as spectacle divorced from daily life, but as community infrastructure.
“Large-scale, complex art — especially with lighting, flame effects, and interactivity — elicits brain activity that’s very difficult to achieve through anything else,” Strawn observes. “Being around art has a therapeutic effect and makes you think. It challenges your concept of reality, particularly when encountering very large installations, which Canal Convergence does exceptionally well.”
This year’s “SHOWTIME” theme coincides with the 50th anniversary of Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, creating opportunities to examine performance art’s evolution and enduring power. For Walter Productions, it’s validation of its belief that art functions best when it builds genuine community connections.
“We’ve been observing the crowds over multiple years now. They’re enormous and getting bigger. They’re incredibly diverse — all ages, people from every walk of life,” Strawn notes. “Having a safe space with inspiring art where you interact with the rest of your community is vastly different from someone sitting on their phone, being stuck in the house or caught in the routines many of us fall into.”
As Canal Convergence commemorates its 13th year, Walter Productions’ continued presence speaks to both the festival’s success and the collective’s ability to evolve while maintaining their core mission. From salvaged firetrucks to marquee flames, it’s proven that Arizona’s most compelling art often emerges from the intersection of technical innovation, community engagement and the simple human desire to create something beautiful together.
“Whether it’s attending a concert, hearing a choir, or listening to a poet — there’s something about it that humans have always needed and participated in, going back as far as we can trace civilization,” Strawn reflects. “People were creating art from the very beginning. It’s that fundamental to us.”
When “Showtime” ignites across the Arizona Canal next month, it will represent more than pyrotechnic spectacle. It will embody Walter Productions’ decade-plus commitment to treating art as community medicine — flames that heal as much as they illuminate, performances that connect as deeply as they dazzle.
Canal Convergence
Nov. 7–16 // See website for schedule of events // Scottsdale Waterfront // 7135 E. Camelback Road, Scottsdale // Free // 480-874-4666 // scottsdalearts.org
