MAC Welcomes Artist in Residence Cara Lee Wade

MAC Artist Cara Lee Wade Contributed photo.

MAC News Release
The Molokai Arts Center welcomes Artist in Residence Cara Lee Wade of Salisbury, Md. Cara is a process-driven photographic artist who creates personal narratives based on her familial history and alternative 19th century processes with 21st century attributes.
She plans to work on two bodies of art, Fossil Poetry and Legacy: Alzheimer’s Stories concurrently, creating lumens, or solar photograms.
“The landscape and scenery will be bountiful for the creation of the Legacy: Alzheimer’s Stories series. I intend to create scenes that reflect my childhood. All of the work in this series is very site specific and relates to memories of my life as well as my ancestors. For Fossil Poetry series, the greatest reason I am desiring to use the flora and fauna of this region is because my formative years are so entwined in it. My father was in the Navy and my family spent two tours living in Hawai‘i,” Cara said.
Born in Oklahoma but calling Georgia home, Cara’s military father took the family to vast places, igniting her interest in diverse subjects.
During her academic career she majored in many things, musical theatre to archaeology, receiving undergraduate degrees in education and English. Cara’s first photo class was an elective during undergrad; a fluke. From her first experience in the darkroom, her world was changed.
She quickly changed direction, receiving an MFA in Photography from Savannah College of Art and Design in 2004. She began teaching that fall at University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne, Ind. where she was professor of photography. She is currently assistant professor of photography at Salisbury University in Md.
Cara believes that everything an artist creates can be traced back to a profound experience in their life. Cara creates artwork about memory and our familial ties to the past. She considers herself an analog photographic artist, working primarily in black and white silver gelatin film with a 1947 Graflex View Camera and in 19th century experimental photographic processes.
As an artist, Cara continues to exhibit regionally, nationally and internationally, seeking out exhibition opportunities that allow a communication between the content of her work and the communities in which the work is shown.
In the fall of 2024, she will have solo exhibitions at Jasper Center for the Arts in Jasper, Ind., Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek, Mich., Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio, and Rosewood Arts Center in Kettering, Ohio (the last two will be part of Cincinnati Ohio’s Fotofocus Festival).
A MAC Talk at Molokai Public Library is scheduled Wednesday, July 23 at 5:30 p.m. Come meet Cara as she shares her work and residency experience. Learn more about our visiting artist at caraleewade.com.
MAC received a grant from the Laila Twigg-Smith Fund of the Hawai’i Community Foundation for the Artist in Residence Program 2024-25. Mahalo HCF for helping artists grow as storytellers on the island of Molokai.