Filmmaker Greg Bassenian’s documentary “Miracle in the Desert: The Rise and Fall of the Salton Sea” is slated to screen at the American Documentary and Animation Film Festival, Sept. 25-29, in Palm Springs. Photograph by Steven Biller.
COVID-19
Problem for the arts: Insurers won’t cover virus cancellations (Reuters)
Most insurers, if not all, are adding virus or communicable disease exclusions to their policies with theater, film, and television productions.
It’s time to radically rethink arts funding (Artsy)
Amid the COVID-19 crisis, these funders formed an alliance to pool resources, minimize overheads, and centralize leadership and messaging to support artists and arts organizations around the country.
ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
Take a virtual tour of the Wave House (Wallpaper)
A new digital tour allows virtual tourists to visit the Wave House, a modernist residence in Rancho Mirage by Walter S. White for artist Miles C. Bates that has been restored by Stayner Architects.
ART
Ruiz names Congressional Art Competition winner (Uken Report)
Leah Cosgrove, a senior at Xavier College Prep, will represent California’s 36th Congressional District at the U.S. Capitol with herdigitally rendered work titled “To Hug the Earth.”
New ‘Insight’ focuses on permanent collection and donors (Palm Springs Art Museum)
A special issue of Insight, the magazine of Palm Springs Art Museum, honors donors whose major gifts transformed the institution’s permanent collection.
Artistic challenges teach kids about the environment (The Desert Sun)
Through S.C.R.A.P. Gallery in Cathedral City, kids create art projects that teach them about complex but crucial environmental issues while engaging in arts, culture and science.
The future of art galleries (The Nation)
To understand what galleries are and might become, art critic Barry Schwabsky talked to some of the people whose interests they ostensibly exist to serve: artists themselves.
FILM
‘Palm Springs’ finds name, inspiration but no locations in Coachella Valley (Palm Springs Life)
Not a single frame of the movie Palm Springs was filmed in Palm Springs. However, trips to the city by director Max Barbakow and screenwriter Andy Siara influenced the comedy starring Andy Samberg.
Filmmaker tells of the rise and fall of the Salton Sea (Palm Springs Life)
One day, while visiting his parents who in the Coachella Valley, L.A.-based screenwriter and filmmaker Greg Bassenian decided to take a road trip to the Salton Sea. Something clicked and, he said, “I just knew I had to make a documentary about it.”
Director reflects on filming in Palm Springs (Palm Springs Life)
Sam Irvin, who directed the Hallmark movie Sister of the Bride and authored the COVID-19 spoof Sam’s Toilet Paper Caper!, talks to Palm Springs Life about his work and the desert.
HERITAGE
Tribal leader’s memoir recounts transformation of Section 14 (The Desert Sun)
Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians tribal leader Vyola Ortner was instrumental in forging the cooperation required to realize land-use agreement with the city of Palm Springs.
ISSUES & IDEAS
With museums off limits, will AR works engage us at home? (The Art Newspaper)
Augmented reality art has had a potentially huge captured audience during the coronavirus lockdown. The Art Newspaper looks at the pros and cons of the technology in a domestic setting.
MUSIC
Jazz in the Pines streaming free through July 17 (The Desert Sun)
Jazz in the Pines, curated by vocalist Rose Colella, is streaming live through July 17 and includes several in-person events in Idyllwild and Los Angeles as well as live and recorded performances and workshops.
Grammy-winner performs and teaches at Jazz in the Pines (Palm Springs Life)
John Daversa, chair of University of Miami’s studio music and jazz program, is performing and teaching a student workshop at the free online Jazz in the Pines festival.
Bass in your face (Coachella Valley Weekly)
Music writer Noe Gutierrez tries to get series with “unsung” desert bass guitarist Derek Wade Timmons.
THEATER
Jamie Grant named CEO of McCallum Theatre (The Desert Sun)
Saying he’ll fine-tune an already successful program, Grant takes command at the McCallum on Sept. 14, ending a four-year run as president and CEO of The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in Saint Paul, Minn.
Local theaters form alliance to navigate the pandemic (KESQ)
CVRep, Desert Ensemble Theatre Company, Desert TheatreWorks, Dezart Performs, Green Room Theatre, and Palm Canyon Theatre have formed the Alliance of Desert Theatres, with artistic directors and senior management meeting weekly on Zoom.
CVRep announces virtual programming (Uken Report)
Upcoming programs feature pianist and composer Josh Nelson (July 16), a Broadway Christmas in July (July 23), and Argentinian tango phenomes Tomas Galvan and Gimena Herrera (July 30)
