Season’s greetings from the California Desert Arts Council (CDAC). Artists and arts organizations across all disciplines, despite their most valiant virtual efforts, find themselves in a precarious position: The pandemic has shut them down and cut off their revenue. With the current surge COVID-19 cases, even the optimists who scheduled events for early 2021 are…

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Artist Jeffrey Gibson premieres a new performance work, TO FEEL MYSELF BELOVED ON THE EARTH, for Palm Springs Art Museum’s Art Party 2020, scheduled for Dec. 4. Photography by Brian Barlow/courtesy of Jeffrey Gibson and Kavi Gupta, Chicago, and Palm Springs Art Museum   Greetings from the California Desert Arts Council. As you receive this month’s…

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Sunnylands Center & Gardens in Rancho Mirage. Courtesy and copyright The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands.   Sunnylands Center & Gardens became the latest Coachella Valley cultural institution to reopen to the public — with limited access and hours and stringent safety protocols — since the pandemic shutdown began last March. Many other venues and…

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The Aluminaire House, a prototype structure designed in 1931 by Albert Frey and A. Lawrence Kocher, will be installed at Palm Springs Art Museum.   ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN Aluminaire House finds home in Palm Springs (The Desert Sun) The 1931 prototype residence designed by Albert Frey and A. Lawrence Kocher will be installed in 2021 in…

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Hello from the California Desert Arts Council!  CDAC’s mission is to unify, empower, and promote the arts and culture community in the Coachella Valley. Since COVID-19 all but shut down the creative economy, CDAC has awarded relief grants to more than 40 local artists and arts organizations and continually publishes roundups of valuable information and resources…

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Jane Culp’s painting Mojave Desert: Pass Through the Panamint Mountain Range, from Echoes of the San Andreas, a new book about the life and work of the artist.   ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN Modernism Week Fall Preview moves online (The Desert Sun)Modernism Week has announced that its fall preview scheduled for October will include no in-person…

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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…

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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…

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Watts-based artist Mister Alek from Watts spray painted a mural in memory of George Floyd on Indian Canyon Drive just north of Amado Road. Photograph courtesy Palm Springs Public Arts Commission.   COVID RESPONSE Your Coachella Valley culture fix is here (Palm Springs Life)During the COVID-19 shutdown, Coachella Valley artists and arts organizations are reaching…

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Evelyn Sofia Rivera, an arts educator in the Coachella Valley Unified School District who’s studying to become an art therapist, has painted a self-portrait inspired by the COVID-19 stay-at-home order and earned a $500 grant from the nonprofit California Desert Arts Council (CDAC) to “Keep Art Alive.” “This piece can be viewed from different perspectives…

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