Creating Community
Discover Caldera’s artists-focused programs and activities that take shape during the dormant surface of the colder months
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Dormant, cold, quiet
Caldera’s community has found this atmosphere in the Cascade Mountains a source of inspiration. A creative cocoon is where artists, creatives, and cultural workers of any discipline are invited to draw on the land's natural resources and each other next to warm wood fires.
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It’s a place of communion
Over the decades, dozens of art workshops have brought together youth, artists, and diverse communities in Caldera at Blue Lake, where youth are introduced to creative practices like screen printing, among many others.
Influenced by nature
A student mixes found natural objects into clay as part of a spring art intensive hosted at Caldera’s art center.
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Caldera at Blue Lake is a sanctuary of shared learning
During the colder months, resident artists have opportunities to engage Caldera students directly. Here, students are captivated by the process of working with natural indigo dyes used in textile crafts. Instruction was conducted by Sonja Dahl, a 2015 resident artist.
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At Caldera, artists set the stage for the future
In a nonlinear way, artist residents help recalibrate and cultivate the next generation of teaching artists. Photograph: a 2015 resident, Christi Denton is a composer and sound installation artist.
Hundreds of artists have made the journey
Kanani Miyamoto, one of five Spring 2022 residents, was captured detailing a woodblock engraving during her residency.
It’s a place of familiar faces
Over the decade of photo documentation, it's common to capture returning artists engaging with youth or furthering their personal development. Pictured here is painter Kaila Farrell-Smith, Golden Spot Residency, 2022.
They practice many disciplines
Musicians, visual artists, writers, and a gamut of good-mission people find solace in space, nature, and communion. During their residencies, each resides in private cabins within Caldera's grounds—picture to the left, Armon Collins, better known by his stage name Scarub.
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A peek into their place of incubation
Artists take full advantage of colder weather and the power of incubation by sheltering in the many cozy locations like the Nurse’s Cabin or one of five available a-frames.
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Some are brave enough to engage with the winter wonderland
It's always a delight to walk into Caldera at Blue Lake in the colder months—One never knows what's over the Cascade mountain pass. Captured here is Julie Keefe, a long-standing Caldera community member, during her residency exploring The Burn, a self-initiated art project.
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Burn piles scattered the backcountry of Caldera
Community artist and Caldera educator Julie Keefe explores her pursuit of a large-scale environmental art installation—blue tarps cover wood piles soon to be ignited.
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A photographer by trade takes a hands-on approach
Details of Julie Keefe prepping her large-scale burn piles, using hazardous remains from the historic B&B Complex fires of 2003.
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Detail of the process
The weather was not ideal for fueling and igniting the burn piles to their potential. Working with the support of the cohort of artists during the residency revealed a greater outcome—community.
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In a community, an excellent ecosystem thrives
Artists and community builders regenerate Caldera repeatedly, just as the natural landscape has done for centuries.
This shared story is part of a decade-long visual chronicle in the making, documented by E.N. Morales, highlighting the fundamentals of Caldera programs. A special appreciation to Julie Keefe for encouraging youth and adults to pursue photography practice as a creative outlet for social impact —"Oso."
Editor, Randal Garcia
© 2024 Caldera
