Art in Nature: CAldera
Join us for a stunning hike and guided pottery experience!
Saturday, October 4th, 2025
Blue Lake
about
Adventure: Join us for a day of art and adventure! Caldera is nestled among a forest of pine and fir and sits on the edge of the stunning Blue Lake. Our soul-stirring day will start with a dash of inspiration from Mother Nature! Upon arriving, we will head for fresh air, venturing out for a serene morning hike before returning to Caldera and letting our creative energy flow. At Caldera’s pottery studio, your instructor will lead you in the creation of pottery pieces, drawing inspiration from the incredible landscape in which you are immersed. We will take a short break for lunch to let our creations dry before glazing. Your pieces will be kiln-fired for 24 hours and available for pickup on Monday at our Wanderlust Office!
You can learn more about your instructor and take a deeper dive into the pottery experience below!
Naturalist Guided Experience: Caldera’s location is situated right at the meeting point of the western Cascades and the high Cascades. The western Cascades are an older, deeply eroded volcanic range characterized by rugged peaks, steep ridges, and glaciated valleys whereas the high Cascades are a newer volcanic range characterized by the taller, picturesque peaks such as Mt. Bachelor and the Three Sisters. During the tour, your Naturalist-Guide will highlight the areas stunning geography as well as topics like fire-ecology, revealing fascinating insights about how this stunning piece of land came to form.
You can learn more about Caldera and their mission to connect young people with limited opportunities with talented artists and creators here!
details
$235 per person
Tour Time:
Saturday, October 4th
8:00am depart, 3:00pm return
Transportation: Departing from our office
INCLUDES
Professional naturalist guide & award-winning interpretation
Guided pottery lesson
Adventure: Inspiring morning hike followed by a grounding pottery experience
All required pottery materials
Lunch: Picnic style lunch
Transportation: Departing from our office
PLEASE BRING
Sunscreen, hat, sunglasses
Jacket/ layers for variable weather
Clothing you don’t mind getting dirty while hiking / creating your pottery pieces
Water or snacks if desired
Tour Minimums: The minimum total number of guests for this tour is 8. We will reach out 2 weeks prior to the tour date if we do not have 8 guests signed up.
Weather: We are fortunate to be on the dry side of the Cascades, getting over 300 days of clear skies and sunshine per year. With that said, this tour will run regardless of rain or inclement weather. You can learn more about our weather policy here.
Meet your pottery instructor
AMY ALBRECHT is a visual artist and Educator living and working in Eugene, Oregon. Over the last decade her artwork has concentrated on Pacific Northwest scenes as she is inspired by her experiences and adventures around the region. Her work explores themes of the human condition focusing on connection between people, society, and the natural world. In recent years Amy has combined her years of experience as a painter into the realm of pottery. While learning and teaching this new medium, she set out to deepen her knowledge and explore new techniques which allows for a playful creative process. Both as a student and teacher who has always struggled with perfection, Amy focuses her teachings and instructions on the importance of processes over products. While working in a classroom of students, her main goal is to empower self expression through visual art, make space for exploration and play, and share the love of creating. With over 15 years of teaching experience from Preschoolers to adults Amy is ready and excited to guide you on your artistic journey.
Hiking & Pottery Experience
Artists and Adventurers should come prepared in clothing they feel comfortable walking/hiking in as well as getting dirty. None of the art materials we use will stain but working with clay is inherently messy and feeling comfortable while creating is always best practice!
While hiking through the wilderness your guide will introduce to you the landscape and point out native plants that will be part of the art making process. Guests will collect a few plants that catch their creative eye and will then incorporate them into ceramic dishware or tiles. All guests are encouraged to bring their phone/ camera for photographing the landscape as well as any close ups of flora or fauna they find interesting (Image references are great tools when creating artwork inspired by the natural world!). After the hike, Amy will walk you through a lesson on how to make small ceramic dishes and tiles. The lesson will include pressing plants into clay, creating natural textures and stamped imagery. She will also demonstrate carving onto the surface of your clay to “draw” landscapes, images or shapes observed during the hike. Finally, all artists will finish their piece by painting the clay with underglaze. We will leave the studio for a lovely lunch in the outdoors and return to the artwork to add a final glaze. By the end of the weekend, you will walk away with 2-3 fully glazed, functional/decorative plates and dishes that contain memories of the day!
Your pieces will be kiln-fired for 24 hours and available for pickup on Monday at our Wanderlust Office! If you are unable to pick up your pieces on Monday, please let us know and we can discuss shipping and the associated cost!
About Caldera
Caldera is a non-profit founded in 1996 as an arts and environmental immersion program in the mountains. The idea behind Caldera is to bring young people with limited opportunities together with talented creative professionals to make art and be in relationship with the natural world. 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.
To learn more about Caldera’s mission, please go to https://www.caldera.org/.
