Dana Caldera

Category: Current Work

  • Dana Caldera’s ‘A Taste of the Seasons’ at Sweetgreen MKT Heights

    Dana Caldera’s ‘A Taste of the Seasons’ at Sweetgreen MKT Heights

    I am delighted to share that my artwork is now part of Sweetgreen’s collection of emerging artists and on view permanently at the Sweetgreen MKT Heights location in Houston, Texas. Sweetgreen is known for it’s seasonal and locally sourced ingredients and super tasty salads. It’s also known for exceptional design and artwork.

    Dana Caldera artwork at Sweetgreen MKT Heights

    This Architectural Digest article from 2018 explains why Sweetgreen continues to focus on design and artwork with the same care and attention to detail as it does the food. Sweetgreen’s founders want the design to be as refreshing as the salads. And as more Sweetgreen locations open up, they unveil more incredible collaborations with artists and architects.

    ”Because we have a very clean aesthetic, it’s a great canvas to showcase art,” Jammet says. A big part of Sweetgreen’s ethos is local sourcing, and this supply-chain strategy is echoed in its work with (often local) artists.

    –Salad With a Side of Style: Why Sweetgreen is Investing in Local Design, by Hadley Keller, Architectural Digest

    For this project, I created a 4 canvas series titled, A Taste of the Seasons, and featuring found paper collage elements sourced from my collected recipes and cookbooks. The artwork is made with mixed media, including pastel, graphite, acrylic, and the collage elements.

    Dana Caldera artwork at Sweetgreen MKT Heights

    In April 2021, the Sweetgreen MKT Heights location opened in Houston (Sweetgreen’s third Houston location at the time), featuring artwork by Dana Caldera. The two previous Houston Sweetgreen locations include Sweetgreen Rice Village, featuring artwork by Lanecia Rouse Tinsley, and Sweetgreen Downtown, featuring artwork by Max Manning.

    Sweetgreen works in partnership with Tappan Collective to bring commissions by emerging artists to each Sweetgreen location.

    Blog post image for dana caldera’s art at Sweetgreen MKT heights
  • Caldera Artwork Featured in ‘Collage Care’ Book

    Caldera Artwork Featured in ‘Collage Care’ Book

    My mixed media collage, Space Between the Branches, (2019, Part of the Doug + Laurie Kanyer art collection) is featured in the book, Collage Care: Transforming Emotions and Life Experiences with Collage. The book, written by Laurie Kanyer, unpacks the practice of creating collage for emotional well-being, much like visual journaling. I start all of my Art I classes with a collage project for many of the reasons outlined in this book.

    Collage Care: Transforming Emotions and Life Experiences with Collage by Laurie Kanyer, MA was released on July 1, 2021. You can purchase the book at this link.

    Read more about Collage Care below:

    Are you looking for a way to help to transform your emotions, feelings, and life experiences? Are you ready to invest in your self-care?

    Collage Care: Transforming Emotions and Life Experiences with Collage will help!

    Art using collage is the ideal tool to transform your life by breaking through your emotions and experiences. Collage Care will show you how collage, a remarkable art form, will become a best friend, a trusted advisor, and a great problem solver. Furthermore, Collage Care demonstrates how using collage offers ways to eliminate your trials and tribulations so you can embrace your joys.

    Collage is for everyone, is accessible, and is nearly free. It is a swift way to get to the heart of a concern. The author of Collage Care, Laurie Kanyer, MA, knows how collage helps, as she witnessed remarkable miracles using collage for 35 years in the classroom and as a therapist.

    Collage Care offers:

    • 125 ways, called Gems, describing how collage helps solve problems, manage feelings, and build self-esteem. 
    • Tools to regulate your emotions, know your True Self, reduce the pressure of your inner critic, and calm your mind.
    • Ways to use collage to improve your relationships and strengthen your communication style. 
    • Over 150 full color, fine art collages offering inspiration and encouragement. This book is both a healing tool and a fine art book! 
    • Reflections—real life testimonies—from people all over the world whose lives were transformed using collage. 
    • Essays from experts in the fields of art, social work, and art history that further document the value of collage as a premiere tool for transformation.

    Collage Care is also a perfect book for those in the helping professions, counselors, teachers and more. Collage Care is useful for historical art research and the historical implications of collage on emotional well-being.