A Month Long Celebration of Plein Air Artwork

During the month of April 2011, you’re invited to attend free exhibits of contemporary and historical painters, as well as talks by some of California’s leading art and photography experts, painting demonstrations, paint-outs in the field with modern day landscape artists and more. Come discover a favorite early painter, meet a modern desert artist or paint a smoketree of your own. Become part of the renaissance of desert art.

The mission of Desertscapes is to promote and educate the public about the early painters, as well as contemporary landscape artists in and around the Coachella Valley. Desertscapes is a Valleywide collaboration of major arts and community organizations, including the City of Palm Desert; Palm Springs Art Museum; The Living Desert's California Landscape Paintings: The Stephen B. Chase Collection; the Walter N. Marks Center for the Arts at the College of the Desert; The Historical Society of Palm Desert California; Coachella Valley Watercolor Society; and Desert Art Center Plein-Air painters of Palm Springs; and University of California, Riverside Palm Desert Graduate Center, among others. 

The second annual Desertscapes celebration is a month-long tribute to the early desert painters and the contemporary landscape artists who followed. Top painters who lived and painted in the desert include Maynard Dixon, Jimmy Swinnerton, Carl Eytel, John Hilton, Agnes Pelton and dozens more. The groundbreaking inaugural event established that the Coachella Valley has a distinct place in California art history and its very own style of art: The Smoketree School.

For more information contact Deborah Schwartz, City of Palm Desert Public Art Coordinator, at (760) 837-1664 or dschwartz@cityofpalmdesert.org.

To view the schedule visit Desertscapes.net 

See what guests from last year’s event are saying:

For us, the home art tour was a highlight of the Desertscapes month.  To see incredibly high quality art in such wonderful surroundings with like minded participants was a memorable experience.
-- Richard and Jane Twedt

The slide lecture by Mr. Jean Stern and demonstrations by artists helped to educate the public that the Coachella Valley has been and continues to be an active art community.
--artist Elaine Mathews

I didn’t realize how many Plein Air enthusiasts were in the valley until now! Desertscapes inspired me to learn more and develop an appreciation for this style of painting.
--Kimberly Bowers, The Living Desert

Desertscapes opened my eyes to the sophisticated art scene - and the individual collectors - unique to the Coachella Valley.  Our art scene takes a back seat to no one’s.
--Christy Porter, Executive Director, Hidden Harvest

Painting: Coachella Valley by Franz Arthur Biscoff from the Stephen B. Chase Collection of California Landscape Paintings.

Schedule subject to change, please check back for additions. Updated 2/15/11.