Idyllwild – Unfold Development

Reconnect: Idyllwild

Unfold02: A regenerative design project by Unfold Development

At Unfold Development we do development and design differently. A part of our regenerative mindset and values system is thinking about how a project connects to the community and region it is in. To us, a project is only successful with real wealth, ie. when nature, community, art, and the educational systems surrounding a project are observed, learned, and uplifted. In doing so, mutual nourishment helps each to keep evolving.

The RECONNECT part of our Unfolding process holds this connection, with discussions with community groups, visual installations on our construction fences, and events for learning opportunities. For Unfold02’s RECONNECT series we’ll feature art installations along the property’s fence to elevate Idyllwild’s sense of place.

We thank Tain Half, our first featured artist, for contributing her lens to the project, in collaboration with Idyllwild Arts and the Native American Arts Center. We also thank the Cahuilla People for teaching us about the roots of place and the importance of remembering.

Follow along for the project’s Unfolding.

Tain Half

Tain Half is an enrolled member of the Apsáalooké tribe, also known as the Crow tribe; she grew up in Bozeman and Billings, Montana, but stayed with her Kaalé (grandmother) on the reservation, traveling back and forth from the reservation to the city for school. She is a 3rd year Junior at Idyllwild Arts Academy studying Fashion, Photography, and Metalsmithing. Tain enjoys expressing her Apsáalooké culture through various artistic mediums.

My main goal for this project was to express how the Cahuilla impacted the land and what was sacred, and acknowledge that we are on native land and this land holds so much history than many know. I wanted to capture history and stories with my work and inform people who may not know how deeply connected Cahuilla are to their homelands.

“I felt it was essential to add this image because of Cahuilla creation stories, and this being the Cahuilla mountain.”

“This is a shot in the Grotto; I wanted to show the aging of the waterways through the stones, how they formed, how they look today, and that the Cahuilla used these waterways for their water supply to sustain themselves.”

“I love this shot because the exposure shows how smooth the rocks are at the Grotto, and the water reflection from the sun makes the rock and water almost blend.”

“This is a wide shot of the Meadow; it always amazes me how it sustains itself and how sacred it is to the Cahuilla people.”

“This is an image of the native trees that have always been here and hold value to the Cahuilla people and the many animals that also occupy this land.”

“This is an older tree in the meadow area. Listening to how the Cahuilla believe that this area is sacred to them made me, as a person, see the campus differently as more of us are walking on history and importance.”

“I wanted to show the history of the Cahuilla food, how it is still here, and how these particular holes show how the Cahuilla women would grind up wild acorns, treating the rock as a mortar and pestle, and how developed their food system was.”

“This is a wider shot of the holes that the Cahuilla used for food processing—imagining the people sitting around these holes and grinding up their food while talking to each other fascinated me.”

About the Native American Arts Center at Idyllwild Arts:

Since its founding in 1946, Idyllwild Arts has always been firmly rooted in respect for and reverence of Native American arts and culture. While the Summer Program has offered dynamic Native American Arts workshops and programming for over 75 years, the Native American Arts Center opened in 2022 to expand these offerings year-round, effectively establishing Idyllwild Arts as a leader in supporting cross cultural and intergenerational transference of Indigenous artistic expression, knowledge and cultural affirmation. The center nurtures relationships with many Indigenous communities, provides access to arts education for Native students, and supports Indigenous artists’ professional development in a safe space to connect with nature and create new works through artist residencies.