Two major retrospectives of women who drew inspiration from the desert are on view currently in Southern California. Agnes Martin came to New Mexico in the late 1960s and lived alone in an adobe hut on a mesa. The Los…
Category: Museum Exhibits
A Quartzsite Christmas, Visionary Bill Ogden, Tahquitz Discovery and More
Artist and archaeologist Jim Toenjes sends holiday greetings “from way out Quartzsite way”. The former Palm Springs resident is now a nomadic artist, traveling the deserts (with winters in Washington state) in a camper with his paints and his dog,…
Desert Americana, Western Abstraction, Coyote Fur and Rams’ Horns
The Cathedral City Historical Society hosts the master of desert Americana, Ron Backer, at a luncheon Thursday, November 5, 2015. Backer, a transplant from South Dakota, zones in on a neighborhood and soon unearths stories even the locals don’t know;…
Billie’s Taxi, Tribute to Edan Hughes, Adobe Dweller Frances Nugent and More
Fans of Cathedral City artist Agnes Pelton have long awaited the book by the City’s first mayor–and a friend to the early artists–Robert Hillery. At last Cathedral City: the Early Years 1925 to 1981 is in print. You can meet…
Joshua Trees in The OC, Agnes’ Spirit Guide, New Morongo Gallery and More
In the spirit of the early desert painters, Jim Trolinger and a band of talented friends are taking on the California deserts one by one. They’ve twice journeyed to Death Valley, and they descended on Joshua Tree in March. You…
Randall Tipton Returns to Tahquitz and More
With the desert strangely warm this season, the snakes have awakened early and artists from colder places are busy in the canyons. One such visitor, Randall David Tipton, is a spellbinding landscape painter well-known in Portland and the Northwest–but he…
Shari Elf Film, Toenjes in Quartzsite, Desertscapes Canceled and More
Shari Elf, a well known member of the Joshua Tree art community, presents a short film about Western artist Don Shreves (1918-1997). Shari is working with Shreve’s 97-year-old brother, Rollie, to document Shreves’ life and work. Paralyzed due to a…
Charles Lummis, Louisa McElwain, Banning Centennial and More
When you’re driving in from LA and hit Banning and the woolly San Gorgonio Pass, you’ve officially entered smoketree country. As Banning celebrates its 100th birthday this year, this atmospheric desert edge town is ramping up as a center for…
Early Desert Stash in Borrego, Terry Masters’ Grand Opening, California Watercolors in Pasadena
Bunnie Hamilton had operated her small gallery in Borrego Springs—the Galleria at the Palms at Indian Head–for less than a year when a jaw-dropping collection of desert art fell in her lap. An unnamed collector gave her his comprehensive collection—65…
Women Artists in Flagstaff, Mystery Painting, Paul Landacre, Desertscapes
Arizona’s Pioneering Women Artists To explore the edges of California desert art, you sometimes have to leave the state. After all, the artists who painted Mt. San Jacinto didn’t pay much allegiance to state lines and many wandered over into…