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History of Wholeo, the Stained Glass Dome, Text and Graphics Path

What is it? How did it come to be? Where is it going?
As you read, click on highlighted works to open related images.

Wholeo, the name of the dome, and all images are Copyright Caroling 1974 All rights reserved

San Francisco, 1967

Wholeo started with a vision quest for the whole self and the desire to be completely immersed in colored light. In San Francisco, I made a scale model design for a colored dome. Eventually, the actual dome turned out quite differently. It could not be confined to the preliminary vision.

To prove the concept, I built a test panel on two foam shells, to the curvature of the hemisphere. These pictures show the panel and the colored light from the panel projected onto a foam shell. Eventually, the panel became part of Wholeo.

New York, 1968

After moving to Staten Island, N.Y., I talked to architects, experimented with plastic frameworks, and read the "Whole Earth Catalog" and the "Dome Book." I created and built some panels on a light table.

Berkeley and Forestville, California, 1972

Four years and many paintings, drawings, and 20 glass panels later, I was ready to put up the dome frame. I needed to see the glass in position in natural light. So I headed for California. In Berkeley, I made the aluminum tube frame and put up the NY panels for the first time. At last I was quite sure it could work and it was a wonderful idea. To make the dream come true, I found a site on the sunny side of a canyon in Forestville, Sonoma County on a ranch named "Harmony." There I built a dome to live in while finishing Wholeo. My only utility was cold water with a spigot. The setting fostered the solitude and serenity needed to realize the visions of the search for the whole self.

Monte Rio, California, 1975

Take a look at the geodesic aluminum tube frame skeleton that holds up the skin of leaded glass panels. The next picture shows a single panel perched high against the sky. It is the first one on the dome. Wholeo remained open to the public in Monte Rio for six years. Now it is in storage, awaiting its next site.

Where is Wholeo's Home?


This page last modified : Sun Feb 25 1996 Back to exhibit page.
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