KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Maria Calderon has always been artistic. From founding Yoga in the Park! at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art to creating installations downtown, her pieces often marrying her Peruvian roots with her Kansas City upbringing.
But recently she decided to leave Kansas City for Ojai, California — a small, spiritual town northwest of Los Angeles, popular with artists.
Maria Calderon, her partner, Jordan and their son.
“It was such a lush area right next to the Ventura River,” she told 41 Action News in a phone interview. “It’s just totally cleared. It looked like someone bulldozed everything.”
For the last couple of days, Ojai has been at the center of the largest wildfire currently ravaging Southern California. As of Tuesday, the Thomas Fire had burned more than 236,000 acres— including Calderon’s “dream home.”
The shows what Maria Calderon's home looked like before and after it was destroyed in a wildfire.
On Wednesday, Maria, her partner and their 3-year-old son were forced to evacuate.
“We just started grabbing everything that we could it was just crazy to look around and say, ‘ok, what is it I’m going to be ok with never seeing again?’” she said.
Now, all that’s left is ashes. Maria and her partner lost their home, their studio and all of their pieces of art.
“It’s hard. We can’t even really process anything at this point because it’s so fresh. I know in my heart it is going to change a lot of the way people interact with the land there,” she said.
The Thomas Fire is the fifth largest fire in California state history. Firefighters have contained about 25 percent of the flames and continue to investigate the cause.
Maria and her family are currently staying with friends in California.
Her loved ones have helped establish a fundraising site to help Maria’s family recover financially and find a new place to live. To donate, click here.
