LENS
Through the
A Bilingual Mobile Youth Photography Program
A Bilingual Mobile Youth Photography Program
the LENS
Through
Founded June 21, 2026, with founding support from Dr. Sepehr Maxood and the Maxood FRAME Fund
How it works.
The word “mobile” in our name is not incidental. Calliope Creative arrives at the school, equipped with cameras, curriculum, and vetted instructors, so the program happens where students already are, without asking families to find transportation or schools to find funding they don't have.
Where we are.
Through the Lens officially launched on July 1, 2026, with founding support from Dr. Sepehr Maxood and the Maxood FRAME Fund. Our pilot began this summer with third-grade students, running as a bilingual after-school course built in English and Spanish from the ground up.
Where we are going.
Our plan is to expand the pilot into middle and high school students, teaching both the art of photography and how to build a living from it. Next we bring the program into Walla Walla and to the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR).
Arts education is not a luxury, but rather an infrastructure, and we're building it for the communities that have been waiting the longest for it.
We'd Love to Show You
If this story moved you, we'd genuinely love to sit down with you, walk you through the studio, and tell you the rest of it in person.
Visit Calliope at 9 South 1st Avenue, Walla Walla, Washington.