Caldera celebrates art program graduates and shows off building

The Hearth Building at Caldera. photo by Jim Mitchell Last weekend was a busy one at Caldera, a 90-acre artist retreat on Blue Lake. Saturday marked the "graduation" of the first DISCOVERY class of the season. About 40 at-risk middle-school students from Portland and Central Oregon were exposed to experiences in the arts and the outdoors.

A non-profit organization, Caldera was put together by Portland advertising executive Dan Wieden. There is no charge to the campers. All of the costs are paid through charitable donations.

Caldera's curriculum includes creative arts, such as acting, poetry writing, painting, photography, dancing, and drumming. The camp is followed by year-round support back in the campers' local communities.

After a week of sleeping in tipis, eating communal meals under a canvas canopy, and experiencing a wide range of artforms, the students completed their experience with performances on an outdoor stage. Some danced to a live African drumbeat. Others recited poetry they had written. All had fun.

The final "event" was the sharing of what they learned in their week at camp. One response was, "I learned that as long as I am with people who I love and trust, there is no reason not to smile."

One boy said, "I learned that I could have a friend with a different color skin."

Other programs include ReACT!/SMART Kids in which grades K-5 work with artists who inspire an enthusiasm for literature, and IMMERSION, in which groups of young people in grades 8-12 study a single discipline with a professional artist throughout the year.

To complete the weekend on Sunday, Caldera held an open house to showcase its nearly completed Hearth Building.

The Hearth Building is an 18,500-square-foot expanse of wood and glass. A rambling rooftop covers the kitchen, the Grand Room, the library, bath house (restrooms, changing rooms, showers) and two art studios.

The kitchen will cater to as many as 300 people. The building features three immense fireplaces, the largest 14 feet wide and nine feet high.

The Grand Room has 3,000 square feet of "sprung" floor for resiliency for dancing. The eight-foot glass door panels of one wall slide to provide a 50-foot wide open-air connection to a large patio area.

Sisters contractor Chuck Newport described the building process as "a great and fun experience." He said he built the building backwards. First his crews put up the rambling, futuristic roof. One year later they started the foundation and walls.

"Everything was new and different," he said.

According to Newport, the 106-foot-long laminated wood beams (cross section 12-1/2x 42 inches) had to be transported to the site using a steerable trailer to negotiate the curvy road around Suttle Lake. The flooring is recycled from a military structure at Ft. Bragg, California. The original 50-foot beams were four-by-14 inches rough-sawn Douglas fir. Cut in half they were milled to two-by-12 inches for flooring.

Other facilities include a high ropes course in the ponderosa pines, several outdoor stages and tipis. Resident artists reside in A-frame cottages. Each has a sleeping loft, kitchenette, bathroom and living room/work area. Caldera is located on the shore of Blue Lake, which was formed by a crater, i.e., caldera, and is the second deepest lake in the state after Crater Lake.

Executive Director Deb Brzoska described the planned salon series.

"We have artists in residence here year-round," she said. "To introduce people in the community to the building, we will invite the public to come up, enjoy the land, cross-country ski or snowshoe in winter, come inside, have hot chocolate, meet the artists, see their work. We want to spend a year just getting artists working in the place, getting to see what the community could use it for."

The Hearth Building's first performance event, free and open to the public, will take place on Saturday, September 11. It will feature renowned entertainer Brenda Bufalino. Bufalino is a vocalist, jazz and tap dancer, actress, comedienne, producer, director and performance artist who has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Apollo Theatre and throughout the world. From 3 to 7 p.m. people may bring a picnic, hike and enjoy Blue Lake.

Then they will be invited inside the Hearth Building to enjoy the one-woman show.