It is well known that the desert attracts artists and creative types, and that there is an ever growing arts community in the High Desert of California. This region includes Joshua Tree, Morongo Basin, 29 Palms, and Yucca Valley. The primary access to the arts community is through its art events, but the Hwy 62 open studio Art Tours is different. Two weekends long, the Tours gives visitors a unique opportunity to meet artists in their respective studios and/or homes. What began in 2001 with just 24 participating artists has since grown to 140 artists and 95 studios (some artists share a space). This year the event took place during the nice and cool fall season, on October 25-26 and November 1-2. I went on the first weekend with my parents, who are art lovers, and left with a strong impression of the scale and identity of the High Desert arts community and culture, one that is nurtured and defined by the environment.

Since 2005, the Red Dirt Art Festival has been connecting local artists with the Redlands community through outdoor events.

Held each spring and autumn, more than 30 artists continue to gather and share their unique artwork that spans across virtually all mediums.

Join us Saturday, November 15th, 2014 (Rain Date November 22nd, 2014) from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM at the Smiley Park located on Cajon & Vine St (Google Map) in Redlands.

To learn more about the artists, please click on the ‘Featured Artists’ page. The Red Dirt Art Festival is an excellent venue to find quality hand-crafted gifts from artists of multiple mediums.

Father Gregory Boyle, founder and executive director of Homeboy Industries, is scheduled to speak at the Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art (RAFFMA) on Thursday, Oct. 30, at 6 p.m.

PRESS RELEASE: 

Father Boyle, a Los Angeles native, founded Homeboy Industries in 1988. The organization has since grown into the largest gang intervention, re-hab and re-entry program in the United States. Father Boyle is also the author of the New York Times best-selling book, “Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion.” Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the museum front desk during the Cal State San Bernardino event.

Entering the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1972, Father Boyle was ordained a priest in 1984. He received his B.A. in English from Gonzaga University, and M.A. in English from Loyola Marymount University and an advanced theology degree from the Westin School of Theology at Berkeley. He has taught at Loyola High School in Los Angeles; was chaplain in the Islas Marias Penal Colony in Mexico and at Folsom Prison and worked with Christian Base Communities in Cochobama, Bolivia.

Dolores Mission Church in the Boyle Heights n

The Noah Purifoy Foundation (NPF) is pleased to announce that the Noah Purifoy Outdoor Desert Art Museum of Assemblage Sculpture created by California artist Noah Purifoy in Joshua Tree, CA has been selected by The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) for national listing. The Noah Purifoy Foundation (NPF) established in 1999 is an all-volunteer, private, non-profit foundation dedicated to the creative life and art practice of artist Noah Purifoy (1917-2004).

The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF), a Washington, DC-based national organization, provides people with the ability to see, understand and value landscape architecture and its practitioners, in the way many people have learned to do with buildings and their designers. Through its Web site, lectures, outreach and publishing, TCLF broadens the support and understanding for cultural landscapes nationwide to help safeguard our priceless heritage for future generations. www.tclf.org. Each year, TCLF, through its selection and research process, chooses landscapes and sites to list called Landslide. 

"Art, for Heaven’s Sake!" is a three day annual art festival held on the beautiful grounds and gardens of the Redlands United Church of Christ.

Festival schedule for 2014: 

Friday, October 17 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Saturday, October 18 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Sunday, October 19 11:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m

This premiere art festival of the Inland Empire features 60 plus artists representing a wide variety of media, including acrylics, photography, watercolor, oils, stained glass, jewelry, pottery, and metal sculpture. The Redlands United Church of Christ holds this event to support the arts and the community. 

The Morongo Basin, already known as a place that draws creative people, is exploding into a popular destination for artists. Whether it’s the space, the quiet beauty, the ease of lifestyle or one of those magical things that no-one can explain, Joshua Tree and the surrounding areas is having a notable impact on artists and the art they produce. And the artists are returning, bringing their own signature.

Stan Sagers, a local resident, said, “6 years ago nobody knew where Joshua Tree was, and now you hear about the Joshua Tree scene all the time through TV shows and news articles.”

One contributing factor is artist residency programs like the Joshua Tree Highlands Artist Residency (JTHAR), Harrison House Music and Arts Residency, BoxoProject, High Desert Test Sites and The Joshua Tree National Park Residency program. These programs bring artists to the desert, give them a place to stay for a period of time and offer them the space and freedom to work on their own art. Many artists are returning to visit, buy property, get married, and complete new projects.

James Berg and Fredrick Fulmer founders of JTHAR feel very connected to this movement. Many of the fifty artists participating in the residency over the last 8 years have returned.

“Joshua Tree has always been a beacon for artists, but it was more of a local secret for Los Angeles and West Coast artists,” said Berg. “Now it is becoming national and international.” 

The necessity of art is often called into question. Artists are asked, “Why is art important?” As if they must defend their work with a valid and acceptable reason to exist. Professor Annie Buckley from California State University, San Bernardino’s Community-based Art Program, suggests that instead of asking that question, we should ask, “Why is it not important?” She says, “We don’t ask why food is important. We don’t ask why money is important. We just assume that they are. Likewise I just assume that art is important.”

I spoke with Buckley about the wonderful work the Community-based Art Program - which provides internships, fieldwork, and service learning opportunities for students - does at the California Institution for Men (CIM) in Chino. The partnership arose after Howard Gaines, the Community Resources Manager at the prison, approached Buckley in the Art Department at CSUSB about the possibility of starting an art program at the prison based on the inmates expressed interest for an art program. In 2013 the partnership between the CIM and the Community-based Art Program began. Buckley, who had already developed the internship program for art students to work with other community organizations, went on a tour of CIM, along with a few students, and ultimately decided that a collaboration between the two institutions would benefit both the students, who lead the art classes there, and the men housed there, many of whom are already artists. 

Joshua Tree Highlands Artist Residency 2015

Submissions are now available online at our website for artists interested in applying for the 2015 residency program

Submission Deadline March 15th, 2015

Seven Week program runs May 20th - July 14th , 2015

www.jthar.com

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Joshua Tree Art Gallery Open Call for artists.

ROCK /PAPER/ SCISSORS

Deadline for entries December 30th, 2014.

Prospectus & application available online.

www.joshuatreeartgallery.com

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Joshua Tree Highlands Artist Residency 2015

Submissions are now available online at our website for artists interested in applying for the 2015 residency program

Submission Deadline March 15th, 2015

Seven Week program runs May 20th - July 14th , 2015

www.jthar.com

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.