OUR MISSION

CASA OCUMARE AIR is an interdisciplinary residence for artists, located on the outskirts of CHESTE, an agricultural town in the Province of Valencia. With a project to stimulate ecology and sustainability by creating crops and orchards that produce part of our food, it was founded in 2022 by Elaiza Irizarry and Fernando Calzadilla with the support of the Arts Connection Foundation.

Our Artists in Residence program focuses on the creative process and the research. You'll be able to focus on your project while sharing ideas with the other participants and with the artists/founders of Casa Ocumare, Elaiza Irizarry and Fernando Calzadilla. We firmly believe that expression develops consciousness of the creative body. We have practiced the integration of the arts (theater, visual arts, music, design) and the philosophy and dynamics of interaction with artists with whom we have collaborated.

In the same way, we have developed the work with emotions from the evolutionary perspective to make action the primary way to stimulate the creative process. In the creative act, meaning emerges as a result of an embodied and felt process. We now put our experience in the service of inspiring others to revitalize the creative flow. The creation deepens our experience and relationship with the world.

Located in Clocha Perlita, Cheste, our residence offers a quiet and comfortable space? with several common areas: garden, pool, studio and open spaces to work and be inspired. As an artist you will be able to develop your work/project and get to know the rural area and the locals. We are five km from the town and 35 km from Valencia.

Our goal is to provide our artists-in-residence with an opportunity to experience that richness and perhaps find synergies with cultural agents, besides local and foreign artists.

Valencia is an amazing city with a very dynamic cultural life and a rich history throughout the centuries. Artists-in-residence will have the opportunity to go to Valencia by train or car with Casa Ocumare staff. In Valencia, you can visit galleries, exhibitions, openings, and museums. Our goal is to provide our artists-in-residence with the opportunity to experience that richness and perhaps find synergies with cultural agents and local and foreign artists.

While at Casa Ocumare artists can enjoy hiking. From the municipal hostel of La Cárcama there are two approved trails, the SL-CV 77 or the Barranco Hondo, 10 kilometres, and SL-CV 78, the Sendero de la Manga, 7.5 kilometers. They are smooth routes that everyone can complete on foot, by bicycle or on horseback. There are also five trails with a longer route and more demanding, including the Network of Trails of the province of Valencia. In Cheste’s outskirts is the Municipal Park of Lomiquia, with a lake, and the characteristic species of the Chestana flora.