Education
This Month in the Arts | COVID-19 Edition – July 2020
As Coachella Valley arts and culture organizations recalibrate their upcoming season to curb the spread of COVID-19, we’re dedicating this edition of This Month in the Arts to sharing resources to help you safely reopen venues, host events, identify emergency financial assistance, and navigate other pandemic-related concerns. First, we encourage arts venues and event promoters…
Read MoreCDAC Awards Another 26 Grants to ‘Keep Arts Alive’
Twenty-six visual artists, musicians, authors, graphic designers, and other creative professionals earned grants from the California Desert Arts Council (CDAC) in May to “Keep Arts Alive,” an initiative to provide financial support to Coachella Valley artists affected by and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Established by CDAC and La Quinta Arts Foundation, the $50,000 fund…
Read MoreWriter, Educator Rob Bowman Wins CDAC Grant to ‘Keep Art Alive’
“I am not built for the apocalypse,” writer Rob Bowman concedes in his new essay, “What We Sow.” “Narrow shoulders and skinny arms. I spend most of my time reading and writing and teaching reading and writing. My nails never have dirt under them and my palms are very soft, so soft that my wife…
Read MoreCoachella Valley Arts News – May 2020
The Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument welcomes amateur and professional photographers to participate in a photo contest to mark its 20th anniversary. Photograph by Tom Brewster/courtesy Palm Springs Life and Friends of the Desert Mountains COVID-19 Arts organizations invited to apply for COVID-19 relief funds (WESTAF)The Western States Arts Federation’s WESTAF…
Read MorePaige Elizabeth Wajda Writes to Escape and ‘Keep Art Alive’
Paige Elizabeth Wajda, a science fiction writer and poet with surrealist tendencies, is in her element in the COVID-19 pandemic. “The reason I write is to escape to other worlds, and in those other worlds, find an alternative to suffering,” she says. “The desert is the perfect place to conjure other versions of reality; the…
Read MoreCDAC Awards ‘Keep Art Alive’ Grant to Artist and Educator Meridy Beth Volz
Sheltered at home, artist and art educator Meridy Beth Volz of Desert Hot Springs is busy teaching five art classes a week via Skype to boys incarcerated at Indio Juvenile Hall. She was placed at the facility for a pilot program called Art with Heart through the Riverside County Office of Education. Although funds have…
Read MoreCece Cruz Hosts ‘Quarantine Creations’ to ‘Keep Art Alive’
On a mission “to heal others through their art experience,” artist, healer, and instructor Cece Cruz of Indio is hosting paint parties on Instagram and Facebook Live until Gov. Gavin Newsom lifts California’s stay-at-home order. She launched the free program, which she calls Quarantine Creations With Cece, in late March to offer a positive creative…
Read MoreTo ‘Keep Art Alive,’ Agustin Aguilera Creates A Fun, Helpful Animated Video
A “happy” red heart (it has a face!) reaches to wrap its arms (it has those, too) around you in an animated message encouraging us to “stay strong” and reminding us to keep our distance, protect ourselves and others, disinfect surfaces, and stay inside. “I have created a short animated video that will create awareness…
Read MoreVocalist Brianna Finnell Wins ‘Keep Art Alive’ Grant
“Let there be peace, and let it begin with me,” Brianna Finnell sings from her La Quinta sequester. She posted her two-and-a-half-minute video performance and earned a $500 to Keep Art Alive — a grant from the California Desert Arts Council (CDAC) offering relief to working visual and performing artists whose livelihood has been impacted by…
Read MoreCoachella Valley Arts News – April 2020
Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf, who was scheduled to appear at the Palm Springs Photo Festival (postponed to Sept. 20–25), shot a series called “Palm Springs” to reveal the “cracks in the perfect world.” Courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York COVID-19 $50K in grants available to local artists, arts organizations (Cactus Hugs)The fund, established by CDAC and…
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