Untitled (Orange Sphere), Jacob Semiatin’s 1960 mixed media work on paper, is being exhibited in the Estate Collection at Rubine Red Gallery in Palm Springs.
PEOPLE
Palm Springs Art Museum CEO shares vision for future programming (The Desert Sun)
Adam Lerner, the new CEO/executive director of Palm Springs Art Museum, says he’ll program events, including music and performance, to attract new audiences. He also announced the return of the populuar Cabaret 88 series and an exhibition by Howard Smith, a Black U.S. Army veteran and artist who lived and worked in Finland.
Grassroots leaders rise to build community through the arts (Palm Springs Life)
Yaya Ortiz and Ruben Gonzalez (Culturas Music & Arts), David Green (Musical Theatre University), Marnie Navarro (Raices Cultura), Debra Mumm (Create Center for the Arts), Nunzio Sisto (Youth Training Orchestras of America), Michael Nickerson-Rossi (Palm Springs Dance Academy and International Dance Festival), and Margaret Irwin-Brandon (Desert Baroque) discuss starting nonprofits from the ground up.
ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
Modernism Week announces 30 additional events for 2022 festival (The Desert Sun)
Highlights include tours of Albert Frey’s Cree House II, the Cody Family residence, celebrity homes, and an architectural bike ride of Palm Springs neighborhoods. Modernism Week (Feb. 17-27) will also feature two jazz events, including a talk and performances.
New partnership offers seasonal architecture tours (CV Weekly)
Modernism Week has partnered with PS Architecture Tours to launch a series of guided tours serving residents and visitors throughout the tourism season, including during Modernism Week. The 2.5-hour tours begin start Dec. 22 and cost $110 per person. The tours will be available through May 2022 and resume in the fall.
ART
Season preview: Must-See Art (Palm Springs Life)
A season art preview features Yaacov Agam at Sunnylands, Helen Frankenthaler at Palm Springs Art Museum, David Černý at Hohmann, Southern California all-stars at Melissa Morgan Fine Art, C. Dutch at CODA Gallery, the Estate Collection at Rubine Red Gallery, the Intersect Art and Design fair at Palm Springs Convention Center, Desert Open Studios, and High Desert Test Sites.
Desert X announces second exhibition in Saudi Arabia (The Desert Sun)
The controversial exhibition set for Feb. 11 to March 30 in AlUla will be curated by Desert X Artistic Director Neville Wakefield, art historian Reem Fadda, and AR Art Advisory co-founder Raneem Farsi. The theme of the exhibition is “sarab,” which means “to flow” in Arabic. Desert X AlUla will take place in a different part of the city than the 2020 edition.
New-look Artists Council puts local talent on display (Palm Springs Life)
Three years after becoming an independent organization, the group known for exhibiting and selling the work of local artists is growing in ways its members never thought were possible.
D.J. Hall celebrates pleasure and visual fantasy in her hyper-real paintings (CV Independent)
The Palm Desert artist features women in her paintings but says her subject is actually light, and her search for the perfect illumination is never-ending.
FILM
Film festival to feature 129 films from 70 countries (The Desert Sun)
Palm Springs International Film Festival will open with a screening of the documentary Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over, and The Duke, directed by late filmmaker Roger Michell, will be the closing film on Jan. 16.
MUSIC
Giselle Woo and her band have big plans for the new year (Palm Springs Life)
In January, her band Giselle Woo & The Night Owls will release its first full-length album, Everything, and mark the occasion with an Oasis Music Festival performance at the newly resurrected Plaza Theatre in downtown Palm Springs.
Keanan Duffty makes music and fashion in the desert (Palm Springs Life)
The New York-based British fashion designer and musician just dropped a new album and a pair of music videos shot in Palm Springs, Joshua Tree, and Pioneertown, and now looks forward to rattling the runway at Fashion Week El Paseo in March.
THEATRE
Theater season opens in the Coachella Valley (Palm Springs Life)
Here’s schedule of performances for all the valley’s theater companies.
MTU to premiere original holiday film in Coachella Valley (The Desert Sun)
David Green’s Musical Theatre University premieres its first feature film on Dec. 16. Blame It on the Mistletoe is a romantic teen comedy musical written and directed by Green and featuring 16 original songs by Green and David Nehls. The project features a cast of 24 MTU students, alongside local pros including Lucie Arnaz, Lorna Luft, Jim J. Bullock, Lindsay Wagner, Don Amendolia, Alix Korey, Joyce Builfant, Ruta Lee, and Bella da Ball in cameo roles. The movie’s premise, Green says, “is basically, what happens if you kiss Mr. Wrong under the mistletoe?”
Desert TheatreWorks brings the holiday spirit with ‘Winter Wonderettes’ (The Desert Sun)
The story features an all-female quartette known as the The Marvelous Wonderettes as they perform at the Harper’s Hardware Holiday Party. When Santa Claus goes missing, the girls rely on their talents and stage show to save the merry gathering. The curtain rises on this off-Broadway hit Dec. 5–23 at the Indio Performing Arts Center.
Desert Rose Brings Back ‘Christmas With the Crawfords’ (CV Independent)
It’s that time of year again — time, that is, to head to Desert Rose Playhouse and share some holiday cheer with Joan Crawford, her family, and a cast of misfit stars who’ve showed up at the wrong address.
McCallum Theatre Education brings arts to local students (The Desert Sun)
The program serves every school in the Coachella Valley and reaches tens of thousands of students every year. In addition to making the arts accessible to local students, it also has projects like the Palm Desert Choreography Festival and the Open Call Talent Project, both of which help to develop local artists.
