Our Story
Caldera was founded by Dan Wieden and his family in 1996 as an arts and environmental immersion program in the mountains. The idea was to bring young people with limited opportunities together with talented creative professionals to make art and be in relationship with the natural world. Turns out it was a pretty good idea. Those who said they couldn’t draw or write or had no rhythm found out they were actually creative and those who never got to hike mountains or swim in lakes found themselves immersed in new experiences each day.
And for nearly 28 years, the power of creativity has transformed Caldera from a small summer program to a thriving year-round community enriching thousands of lives every year.
Our mission
Caldera’s mission is to inspire and support youth from underserved rural and urban communities by awakening the potential of their creative voice.
Our impact
Over the years we watched as Caldera students became creative change agents, not only in the Caldera community, but also in the schools and communities where they live. Caldera has nurtured artists for over 20 years too, through our Residency Programs that help artists create their work, as well as support our youth. We’ve worked with over 15,000 young people, over 600 artists, and hundreds of teaching artists, partners, and community members through the last 26 years to keep our creative community going strong.
Our education program
Caldera’s mission is to inspire and support youth from underserved rural and urban communities by awakening the potential of their creative voice. We use the unique fusion of arts, environment, and mentorship to build critical thinking and problem-solving skills that youth can apply to their lives in meaningful ways.
Caldera begins working with sixth graders and stays with them throughout middle school, high school, and adulthood. Our arts and nature-focused programming and supportive mentoring inspire Oregon youth to solve communities’ most pressing challenges, one learner at a time. They develop belonging and attachment to a welcoming, creative community, a proven indicator of flourishing later in life.
Discovery: Middle school youth participate in year-round programming, including in-school classes, two-weekend intensives with Immersion Students, and an 8-day summer program. We partner with schools across Central Oregon and the Portland Metro area during the school year to meet with youth weekly during school hours. Professional mentors develop student-centered curriculum that uses creativity as a tool to explore identity, community, and the world around them.
Immersion: High school students participate in year-round programming, including after-school and weekend workshops, 2-4 weekend intensives with Discovery or Immersion Students, and a 9-10 day summer program. School year workshops continue to build creative practice through unique projects with the support of a professional mentor.
Weekend Intensives: (Middle + High School): In both Fall and Spring, we bring our middle and high school youth together for a weekend day workshop to engage in creativity and community. In both Central Oregon and Portland, youth meet for fun community-building activities, environmental learning, and art workshops with professional artists, environmentalists, and the mentors they know from school and summer program. This can also be an entry point to our program for families not enrolled in a partner school.
Caldera Summer program: Caldera summer learning takes place July through August at our Arts Center on the shores of Blue Lake in the Cascade Mountain Range. More than 150 young people from Portland and Central Oregon come together to experience a life-changing summer program that deepens creative practice while stepping into the natural world. Each day at Caldera, youth might hone their film directing skills, reach new heights on the ropes course, or steward the high desert land, while building lasting friendships with supportive adult relationships.
Launch Pad (Alumni): After graduation, we stay in touch with alumni and offer assistance through scholarships, college application advice, and a continued creative community. More alumni programming is in the works!
Connect directly with our Programs Coordinator:
meg.ball@calderaarts.org
(541) 904-4306
Información en Español:
natalie.mosman@calderaarts.org
(541) 904-4301
Our statement of equity and inclusion
We recognize that Caldera communities face many systemic injustices. We recognize the history and ongoing impact of racism in our country, state, and institutions.
We acknowledge that we will always have room to grow as an organization and as individuals in our understanding of racism and oppression. We commit to continually examining our role in both perpetuating and combating institutional racism. We also commit to ongoing alignment of our policies and practices to advance racial equity, inclusion, and freedom of expression.
We commit to integrating equity and inclusion into all areas of our work to better serve our mission. When we do this, we get closer to the world that we want for our youth. To ensure our own accountability, we will 1) seek deeper relationships with and feedback from our larger community; 2) use our Equity Plan to guide ongoing work; and 3) apply our Equity Lens to decision making. We will also seek inspiration from artistic and cultural traditions.
At Caldera, we are striving toward racial equity and inclusion, which we define as the same power and resources being held equally by organizations and by the communities we serve. We create opportunities for all to lead and thrive.
We celebrate the identities of all involved in Caldera, past and present. We are an inclusive, creative community that welcomes marginalized voices and historically excluded people and groups.
We are an organization that strives to respect the race, ethnicity, ancestry, color, size, disability, national origin, age, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, socioeconomic status, geography, citizenship status, criminal background, religious background, marital status, military status, strengths, and differences of all people.
Our site is becoming something different, something new. The power of creativity is at work.
Join us here this Summer 2024 for a full Caldera experience.