Los Angeles-based artist Gisela Colon created The Future is Now for the controversial Desert X AlUla exhibition, which continues through March 7. Desert X has announced dates and a new co-curator for its 2021 exhibition in the Coachella Valley. Photo courtesy Desert X.
ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN
Cree House opens for Modernism Week tours (Palm Springs Life)
Architect Albert Frey’s 1955 Cree House, perched on a hillside bordering Cathedral City and Palm Springs, opens for tours during Modernism Week and features a selection of furnishings by Eames, Nelson, and Noguchi.
Where “cool” began (Palm Springs Life)
An all-star panel discusses the legacy of modernist forms during a Feb. 22 Modernism Week symposium moderated by The Birth of the Cool author Elizabeth Armstrong.
Town & Country: Palm Springs’ most important building (The Desert Sun)
Designed by Paul R. Williams and A. Quincy Jones, Town & Country Center was a nod to the International style with a sweeping curvilinear overhang and a dramatic exterior staircase.
Two sides of the (Town & Country) center (Palm Springs Life)
In a fairy tale, Town & Country Center would be celebrating its 72nd anniversary this year as a social hot spot. Instead, opposing forces are looking to strike a balance between development and preservation.
Model students (Palm Springs Life)
By creating replicas of modern architecture, schoolchildren gain appreciation for their local heritage.
ART
Desert X announces dates, co-curator for 2021 exhibition (The Desert Sun)
César García-Alvarez, founder of the experimental Los Angeles art space The Mistake Room, has joined Desert X as co-curator of the next exhibition opening in the Coachella Valley in February 2021.
Jim Isermann opens a bright, sunshine-y exhibition (Palm Springs Life)
For more than 35 years, artist Jim Isermann has powered his inventive work with the colors and contours of midcentury design. This month, finally, he opened an exhibition in the modernism-mad town where he lives: Palm Springs. This is his story.
Q&A with Jim Isermann (The Desert Sun)
The artist, whose exhibition is open at the Palm Springs Art Museum Architecture and Design Center, spoke to The Desert Sun about his creative process and the evolution of 3-D artwork.
Art Palm Springs features local and global galleries (CV Independent)
Barba Contemporary Art, Jorge Mendez Gallery, and Melissa Morgan Fine Art are among the galleries representing the Coachella Valley at the region’s premier art fair.
Artists defend participation in Desert X AlUla (Artnet)
After the opening Desert X AlUla, which continues through March 7, artistic director Neville Wakefield says those who don’t embrace the cross-cultural exchange in Saudi Arabia — long associated with human rights violations — are “part of the problem.”
Color and tone: It’s all art to Zach Fleming-Boyles (CV Independent)
Palm Springs-based painter and musician Zach Fleming-Boyles recently performed his first “ambient techno” show in four years, and he’s exhibiting his art — paintings of cacti — this month at the new Tim J. Leary Studios at the Backstreet Art District.
MUSIC, DANCE & STAGE
The Gala House partners with Nickerson-Rossi Dance for Modernism Week (CV Independent)
D’re Stergios is bringing modern art and dance into her Gala House living room Feb. 22 in partnership with the International Dance Festival.
Splash House expands to three weekends, announces dates (Coachella Valley Weekly)
Passes are on sale for Splash House — a fusion of electronic music, poolside partying, and resort amenities — which returns for three weekends in June and August at Renaissance Palm Springs, Riviera Palm Springs, and the Saguaro hotel.
Q&A with Ocho Ojos keyboardist Danny Torres (CV Independent)
Ocho Ojos released the single “Baile Trankis” in January, and CV Independent caught up with the popular local band’s keyboardist Danny Torres for a Q&A in the current edition.
FILM & TELEVISION
Desert Screenwriters Guild shares tips, welcomes residents (KESQ.org)
Jay Maldonado and Deborah Calla joined KESQ morning anchor Angela Chen in studio to talk about the Desert Screenwriters Guild. The two encouraged local residents to join the group’s meetings and shared tips on strengthening screenplays and how to get your work in front of others.
ISSUES
Cal Arts alumns hatch plan to reduce $50K tuition (W Magazine)
In a new program, 50 artist-alums are creating works, typically in editions of 10 to 20, to be sold to raise scholarship funds to support a new generation of would-be artists who might not be able to afford CalArts’ $50,850 tuition.
LITERARY
Showtime for Tom Lutz, man of writing (Los Angeles Times)
The University of California, Riverside creative writing professor and founding editor of the Los Angeles Review of Books talks about L.A. publishing and his debut novel Born Slippy.
