A Month Long Celebration of Plein Air Painting

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Palm Desert is dedicating the entire month of April 2010, to a celebration of the early desert painters and the contemporary landscape painters who followed. Today there is a renaissance of interest in desert plein-air paintings among collectors and scholars. Many of the top painters including Maynard Dixon, John Hilton, Jimmy Swinnerton, and stagecoach artist Marjorie Reed either lived or exhibited in Palm Desert. The mission of Desertscapes is to promote and educate the public about the historical and contemporary relationship between California landscape and plein-air painters within the Coachella Valley and surrounding area.

Desertscapes will feature exhibits of contemporary and historical painters, along with talks by some of California’s leading art experts. Highlights include: Painting demonstrations, paint-outs in the field with contemporary landscape artists, panel discussions and tours. This groundbreaking event is valleywide in scope, with events to be staged in various cities.  Many institutions and organizations are involved in the planning and presentation of the activities, some of which are: 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; Edenhurst Gallery; and University of California, Riverside Palm Desert Graduate Center.  Desertscapes will appeal to anyone who loves the dunes, the palm oases and the Santa Rosa Mountains, painted by so many acclaimed artists over the decades. 

For more information contact Deborah Schwartz, City of Palm Desert Public Art Coordinator, at dschwartz@cityofpalmdesert.org.

Desertscapes Schedule:

Ongoing - daily - Desertscapes Exhibition
Free, Desert Art Collection & Sculpture Garden, 45-350 San Luis Rey Avenue, 760-674-9955.
The last remaining Desertscapes by William F. Reese, internationally collected Coachella Valley plein air painter, along with new works by contemporary painters Birgitta Kappe, Diane Best, and John Eagle. 

January 28 through March 28, daily 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.  Desertscapes Exhibition
Free. Palm Desert Community Gallery, Visitor Center, 72-567 Highway 111, Palm Desert, 760-837-1664.
Desertscapes the exhibition brings together five area artists to display their desert themed artwork.  Artists included in the exhibition are glass artist Patrick Blythe, painters Myrn-Ellen Thayer Krengel, Marion Hermann, Maria Hunt, and pastel artist Gwen Novak.

March 17 through May 18, Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. American Impressionist Paintings by Cash Baxter
Free. Lucy Curci Cancer Center, Eisenhower Medical Center, 39000 Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage, 760-837-8966.
An exhibition of work by Cash Baxter.  Mr. Baxter is an award winning artist who resides in Palm Desert.  His works hang in galleries and private collections throughout the United States, Germany, Scotland, and South Africa.

March 27, 1 - 3 p.m. - Coachella Valley Watercolor Display Opening Reception
Free, Historical Society of Palm Desert, 72-861 El Paseo, Palm Desert, 760-346-6588.

March 27 through April 3 - Coachella Valley Watercolor Display
Historical Society of Palm Desert, 72-861 El Paseo, Palm Desert, 760-346-6588. 
In a kickoff to “Desertscapes” month, the Coachella Valley Watercolor Society will be displaying recent work at the Historical Society of Palm Desert.  

March 30, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. – Coachella Valley Watercolor Society Field Mice  "Paint Out"
Free with admission. The Living Desert, 47-900 Portola Avenue, Palm Desert, 760-837-1664.
Watch artists of CVWS Field Mice at work as they "Paint Out". Meet with the artists at lunch time for viewing of the Art work and sale at the Meerkat Cafe. 

April 1, 5 - 8 p.m.  (during the El Paseo Art Walk) - Reception for Diane Best: Desertscapes Recent Paintings
Free. Desert Art Collection & Sculpture Garden, 45-350 San Luis Rey Avenue, Palm Desert.  760-674-9955.

April 1 – 27 – Diane Best: Desertscapes Recent Paintings
Free. Desert Art Collection & Sculpture Garden, 45-350 San Luis Rey Avenue, Palm Desert, 760-674-9955.

April 5 through 22, Monday through Thursday, 12 - 4 p.m. or by appointment. - Desertscapes: Early California Desert Painters
Free. Walter N. Marks Center for the Arts at College of the Desert, 43-500 Monterey Ave., Palm Desert, 760-776-7278.
An exhibit of early desert “plein air” paintings on loan from private collections, curated by Kevin E. Stewart, Appraiser, Inc.

April 6, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. – Coachella Valley Watercolor Society Field Mice "Paint Out"
Free with admission. The Living Desert, 47-900 Portola Avenue, Palm Desert, 760-837-1664.
Watch artists of CVWS Field Mice at work as they "Paint Out". Meet with the artists at lunch time for viewing of the Art work and sale at the Meerkat Cafe.  

April 6, 5 p.m. - 6 p.m. - Plein Air Painting: How to Start and the Tools to Use – a demonstration with Diane McClary
Free, The Art Colony at the Blueprinter, 74-210 Hwy. 111, Palm Desert, 760-568-4056
Expert plein air oil painter Diane McClary shows what you will need before you head out into the desert to paint, including easels, painting tools, and what colors to have on your palette. If you have wanted to try plein air painting but didn’t know where to start, this demo is for you.

April 6, 6 p.m. – Painters of the Desert, Then and Now, Lecture by Jean Stern, Executive Director of the Irvine Museum
Free, but reservations are requested. University of California, Riverside Palm Desert Graduate Campus, 75-080 Frank Sinatra Drive, Palm Desert, 760-837-1664 (reservation line).
The lecture will focus on several works by artists painting in the desert between 1900 and 1940, including Franz Bischoff, Alson Clark, John Frost and Paul Grimm, Sam Hyde Harris and James Swinnerton, among others.  It will also include a discussion of paintings of deserts created by living artists, including John Cosby, Scott Prior, John Budicin, Saim Caglayan, Debra Huse and others.  The lecture will be followed by a question and answer period.

April 10, 9 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Coachella Valley Watercolor Society and Desert Art Center Plein Air Painters "Paint Out" Free. Eric Johnson Memorial Gardens, Palm Desert Visitor Center at 72-567 Highway 111, 760-837-1664.
Come watch the artists in action as they paint outside in the garden.

April 11, 9 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Coachella Valley Watercolor Society and Desert Art Center Plein Air Painters "Paint Out" Free with admission. The Living Desert, 47-900 Portola Avenue, Palm Desert, 760-837-1664.
Come watch the artists in action as they paint outside in the zoo.

April 12 through 17, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. - Desert Painters Then and Now  
Historical Society of Palm Desert, 72-861 El Paseo, Palm Desert, 760-346-6588.
An exhibit of early desert masters such as Paul Grimm, alongside modern masters like Elaine Mathews, Terry Masters and Jim Toenjes.

April 14, 3-7 p.m. Coachella Valley Watercolor Society "Paint Out"
Walter N. Marks Center for the Arts at College of the Desert, 43-500 Monterey Avenue, Palm Desert, 760-776-7278.
Watch artists of CVWS Field Mice and the Desert Art Center Plein Air Painters of Palm Springsat work as they "Paint Out" in front of Walter N.Marks Center for the Arts.  Artwork will be on display and sale.

April 14, 5-7 p.m. — Desertscapes Reception
Free. Walter N. Marks Center for the Arts at College of the Desert, 43-500 Monterey Ave., Palm Desert, 760-776-7278.
Desertscapes is an exhibition of early desert paintings.  The reception will include a musical performance by College of the Desert’s Faculty Jazz Ensemble featuring Anthony Fesmire, Matt Howe, and Mikael Jacobson. 

April 20 and 21 – Diane McClary – Plein Air Color, Color, Color!  Fee required.
Classes will be held at Ms. McClary’s residence.  Sponsored by the Palm Springs Art Museum. To register click here.

April 20, 6:00 p.m. – Lecture - Changing Perceptions of the Western Landscape, Katherine Hough, Chief Curator, Palm Springs Art Museum
Free, but reservations are requested.
University of California, Riverside Palm Desert Graduate Campus, 75-080 Frank Sinatra Drive, Palm Desert, 760-837-1664 (reservation line).
This presentation invites the viewer to look at art in new ways by disregarding historic periods and focusing on thematic and visual relationships. Juxtaposing 19th and early 20th century Western landscape paintings with contemporary paintings and desert photography, Ms. Hough will discuss aesthetic strategies to enrich our appreciation of western landscapes.  Learn how contemporary artists reveal a quest for new views and how they help us see the landscape in shifting historical context.  From the dramatic, historic style of the 19th century paintings by Thomas Moran to photographs of emotionally charged desert images by Richard Misrach, this presentation emphasizes contemporary photography’s role in defining a new image of the Western landscape.

April 22 & 23 – Terry Masters – Plein Air Design, Design, Design! 
Fee required
Classes start at the Palm Springs Art Museum. To register click here.

April 23, 7 p.m. - Painters of the Desert, Gary Fillmore
$5 fee to benefit The Historical Society of Palm Desert, 760-346-6588.
LG's Prime Steakhouse, 74-255 Highway 111, Palm Desert.
An evening talk a desert art insider.  Gary Fillmore is a Phoenix gallery owner and an authority on Jimmy Swinnerton who will share his unparalleled acquaintance with the early desert painters.

April 24, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. – The Historical Society of Palm Desert's Desert Art Home Tour
$125 for Historical Society Members and $150 for non-members, Information: 760-346-6588
The homes on the Desert Art Home Tour include RD and Joan Hubbard (BIGHORN Golf Club), Sam and Diane Stewart, Joe Ambrose, and Robert and Kay Hillery, and will include lunch at The Living Desert and a tour of the Chase Collection led by Thom Gianetto of Edenhurst Gallery.  The maximum for the tour is 56. 

April 25, 2 p.m. - Kevin Stewart Fine Art in Palm Springs: "Desert Mystic: Agnes Pelton"
2481 N. Palm Canyon Drive, 760-327-7000
Free, but reservations are requested.
California State University Long Beach assistant professor Nancy Strow Sheley will discuss the landscapes of Agnes Pelton, a former Cathedral City artist whose life and work is often compared to that of Georgia O'Keefe.  Limited seating. 

April 28, 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. - Plein Air Painting Products Show
Free, The Art Colony at the Blueprinter, 74-210 Hwy. 111, Palm Desert, 760-568-4056
The Valley’s only art supply store is bringing in a full range of products made for the plein air painter. There are many options for travelling easels, portable palettes and specialty brushes, and here you can examine them all. Qualified sales reps will be on hand to answer questions. And, get special event discounts on everything in the store. 

April 29, 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. – Artwork Tour - Sunlight & Shadow:  Desert and Western Landscape Painting, Christine Giles, Curator, Palm Springs Art Museum
Free with admission, Palm Springs Art Museum, 101 North Museum Drive, Palm Springs, 760-325-7186.
Ms. Giles will give a tour of the Museum’s desert landscape paintings in the permanent collection and the special exhibition “Colors of the West:  The Paintings of Birger Sandzen”. Artists represented in the Museum’s permanent collection include Agnes Pelton, James Swinnerton, Stephen H. Willard and Carl Eytel, among others.

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 03/02/10.