Native American, Mexican American, and LQBTQ communities celebrate their heritage in a variety of festivals, exhibitions, and other events in November — an arts-and-culture-rich month that also includes local lore brought to life in a one-woman play, freshly created arts and crafts, a choreography festival, and lots of homegrown musicians performing on local stages. Pace yourself. The season’s just getting started!
Above: The Sunnylands totem pole was carved in 1976 by Henry Hunt for the fifth fairway at Sunnylands, which has opened Reach For the Sky, an exhibition featuring the work of the Hunt family of carvers as well as musician Herb Alpert. Photograph courtesy Sunnylands Center & Gardens.
ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
BREAKING ALL THE RULES: An exhibition of works by the San Francisco-based graphic designer Barbara Stauffacher Solomon, the pioneer of “California Cool,” opens Oct. 5 and continues through January 20, 2020, at the Palm Springs Art Museum Architecture and Design Center. Info
WALKER GUEST HOUSE: Tour a replica of the Paul Rudolph’s Walker Guest House, an icon of Sarasota modernism, in downtown Palm Springs, on weekends through March 2020. Info
ART
ART AFFAIRE: The 19th edition of the Rancho Mirage Art Affaire returns Nov. 9–10 with more than 100 artists who work in a variety of media exhibiting at Rancho Mirage Community Park. Info
STONEWALL REMEMBERED: The exhibition Stonewall 50: Half A Century of LGBTQ Activism continues through Nov. 14 at the Marks Art Center at College of the Desert in Palm Desert. Info
ACE SHOW: The Artists Council Exhibition, featuring contemporary art in a variety of media by artists working in Greater Palm Springs, runs Nov. 11–22 at Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Desert. Info
ART WALK: Meet artists as they open their gallery exhibitions Nov. 1 during El Paseo Art Walk. Info
WILD BLUE YONDER: La Quinta Museum presents Wild Blue Yonder, an exhibition honoring the veterans for Riverside County, through Nov. 30. Info
REACH FOR THE SKY: Sunnylands Center & Gardens in Rancho Mirage presents a season-long exhibition, Reach for the Sky: Tradition + Inspiration, featuring totems by the Hunt family of Canadian First Nations artists and the musician and artist Herb Alpert. Info
BRAVE NEW WORLDS: Five Southern California artists — Kelly Akashi, Gisela Colon, Victoria Fu, Karen Lofgren, and Adee Roberson — come together in “explorations of space,” through Dec. 15 at Palm Springs Art Museum. Info
FLIGHT PLAN: The Birds of Sunnylands, an exhibition of 52 photographs taken last season by National Geographic lensman Tim Laman at Sunnylands Center and Gardens, is on view through May 2020 at the Coachella Valley History Museum in Indio. Info
HERITAGE & FESTIVALS
STREET: Street artists paint, musicians play, and fashion models show off new looks Nov. 1 at Street, a festival at Westfield Palm Desert. Info
KEWET: The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians presents its Kewet Native American Learning Day and Market Nov. 2 at Palm Springs High School. Kewet, the Cahuilla word for fiesta, features bird singers and dancers, basket weaving, beading, gourd rattle making, and more. Info
PRIDE: Greater Palm Springs Pride, a celebration of LGBTQ culture and progress, rolls into Palm Springs Nov. 1–3 with a parade, a festival with entertainment, and a full weekend of activities. Info
DIA DE LOS MUERTOS: Expect high-energy music and melt-in-your-mouth food at Dia de los Muertos events throughout the valley, including celebrations Nov. 2 in downtown Coachella and Cathedral City. Info
SYNERGY FEST: Celebrate the music and arts of the Coachella Valley on Nov. 9. Local artists will perform on two stages at the festival, which also includes a car show and food vendors in Coachella’s Dateland Park. Info
DATE FEST: The inaugural Date Harvest Festival — celebrating the Coachella Valley’s date industry with food, live music, and a best-in-show date competition — is set for Nov. 9 at Coachella’s Rancho Las Flores Park. Info
INDIO POWWOW: The 38th Annual Cabazon Indio Powwow, Nov. 29–Dec. 1 at the Fantasy Springs Special Events Center in Indio, offers a weekend of dancing, drum contests, peon games, and bird singing, hosted by the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians. Info
CORAZON DE MEXICO: Visit the 1926 Smiley-Tyler Adobe House and peruse the ongoing exhibit Corazon de Mexico, featuring the Coachella Valley History Museum’s eclectic collection of Mexican folk art, including textiles, pottery, costumes, and wooden toys. Info
FILM
CINEMA FRANCAIS: Desert Film Society presents Cinema Français, a festival of French-language films and culture, Nov. 22–24 at the Palm Springs Cultural Center. Info
MUSIC
LIZANN WARNER: Los Angeles vocal impressionist Lizann Warner, a who can imitate more than 35 famous female recording artists, gives a free performance Nov. 14 at the Rancho Mirage Library & Observatory. Info
PIANO MAN: Classical concert pianist David Syme takes the stage Nov. 18 at Temple Sinai with a repertoire of Beethoven, Bach, Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninof, and others. Info
JAZZ FESTIVAL: Famed trumpeter Arturo Sandoval and vocalists Stacey Kent and René Marie are headliners Nov. 23–24 at the Palm Springs International Jazz Festival thunders at Annenberg Theater. Info
THEATER & DANCE
THE CHOICE: Written by Roger Walker and directed by Gina Bikales, this powerful drama about choice and who has the right it comes to life Nov. 1–2 as part of the Script2Stage2Screen program based at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Rancho Mirage. Info
DINNER WITH FRIENDS: CVRep in Cathedral City presents Donald Margulies’ sharp, funny Pulitzer Prize-winning 1998 play about two married couples who have been friends for many years and struggle with questions of loyalty, individuality, and commitment. Dinner With Friends runs Nov. 6-24. Info
CHOREOGRAPHY FESTIVAL: Choreography by emerging and established dancemakers returns to the McCallum Theatre Nov. 9–10 with original dances in a number of styles performed by companies from across the nation. Info
AGNES PELTON: The legendary desert painter reminisces Nov. 10 in Bringing Light to Life, a bittersweet one-woman play written and performed by Nancy Strow Sheley at the artist’s historic Cathedral City home. Info
