Gary Fillmore, a well-known authority on Arizona and Western art, comes to Palm Desert on Friday, April 23rd to speak on the painters Marjorie Reed, John Hilton and Jimmy Swinnerton. All three once lived and painted in the Coachella Valley.
The former Desert Southwest Art Gallery is today LG's Prime Steakhouse.
Fillmore, owner of the Blue Coyote Gallery in Cave Creek, Arizona (near Phoenix), is the author of an acclaimed biography on Reed “All Aboard: The Life and Work of Marjorie Reed” as well a book on Swinnerton: “Desert Horizons: Images of Jimmy Swinnerton’s Southwest”. Fillmore will be speaking at a location essential to the history of desert art. LG’s Prime Steakhouse in Palm Desert was once home to Desert Magazine and the influential Desert Southwest Art gallery, an incubator and launching pad for many important artists.
Appearing along with Fillmore will be Ginger Renner, former co-owner of the Desert Southwest gallery. Renner worked closely with artists such as R. Brownell McGrew, Olaf Wieghorst and Jimmy Swinnerton. In her era (the 1960s through early ‘70s) the gallery was famous for parties that nearly shut down Highway 111. An event for Brownell “Brownie” McGrew drew more than 1,000 guests.
For more on Gary Fillmore, see www.BlueCoyoteGallery.com
Details: April 23, 7 p.m. $5 fee to benefit The Historical Society of Palm Desert
LG’s Prime Steakhouse, 74-255 Highway 111, Palm Desert. Info: (760) 346-6588.
The event is held in conjunction with Desertscapes, a month of events dedicated to the early desert painters. For a full schedule see: www.PalmDesertArt.com or call (760) 837-1664.