Artistic Night in Palm Springs
Once the wintertime escape destination for Hollywood’s most famous movie stars, Palm Springs has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years. Both in population and in tourism, this desert community is one of the hippest and exciting places to be inland in Southern California. Always a destination of artistic types, in recent years Palm Springs has grown into a true art-based community. For a taste of local art scene, as well as some of the great masters of all time, I spent an evening exploring art in downtown.
I stayed at the Spa Resort & Casino, which is located in the heart of downtown. From the hotel, which is one of the oldest resorts in the area and an experience in and of itself, I walked due west for about ½ a mile to the beautiful Palm Springs Art Museum. Every Thursday night they have live music at their outdoor café and admission is free (although donations are strongly encouraged). While the museum itself is rather small compared with some of the great museums of the world that I’ve had the privilege of haunting, it’s collection is right up my alleyway. My favorite artists include Picasso, Degal, Rodin, Pollock and anyone who does cool glass. It’s not often that I can find awesome selections of each within a minor museum, but the permanent collection at Palm Springs has some wonderful examples. I had expected lots of baskets and other indigenous artwork, which is great but not my favorite, and was pleased to find Cahuilla Indian basket weaving alongside some wider-known names.
I love very large artwork. Just love it. Hence my corresponding love of architecture. I was pleased and thrilled to experience the Patrick Dougherty, Second Sight installation while I was there. Dougherty, a contemporary artist whose work is from found objects and does massive nests, etc, had created huge, beautiful tumble-weed type structures in the center of the main gallery’s three floors. Did I mention that these are HUGE? Awesome – in all senses of the word.
After I had absorbed as much as I could handle of the museum, I migrated back to the main drag of Palm Springs, where their Village Fest Craft Fair happens every Thursday night. Local artisans and great street food (my favorite kind of food) line about a mile of Palm Canyon Drive and it’s THE place to be. I love street fairs, mostly because of my street food addiction, but this one’s booths are truly good art, which is rare at these sorts of things. I was completely exhausted by the time I crawled back into my bed.
Tags: Art, Southern California, Tag Index