Desert X and Palm Springs Art Museum are launching Desert r&d, a weekend of panels, workshops, discussions, and studio visits. Free and open to the public, Desert r&d celebrates and makes space for research and development in all its forms – half-baked thoughts, process-based practices, ongoing experiments, and questions still unanswered. Join us this spring as we gather a diverse group of creative practitioners, including artists, scientists, writers, and thinkers, to explore global questions with a local focus, employing the desert as a research laboratory.
This program is curated by Desert X Artistic Director Neville Wakefield, Desert X 2025 Co-curator Kaitlin Garcia-Maestas, Palm Springs Art Museum Chief Education and Community Engagement Officer Luisa Heredia, and Palm Springs Art Museum Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art Sharrissa Iqbal, with the support of the Desert X and Palm Springs Art Museum teams and volunteers.
Thank you to our community for making Desert X a point of connection for our local and global visitors. It is with your support that we continue to offer free programs showcasing the art and culture of our time. Consider giving here.
Programming Schedule:
Friday, March 8
2 PM | An Artist talk with Cara Romero
Annenberg Theater • 101 N Museum Dr, Palm Springs, CA 92262
Join us for an artist talk with Desert X 2019 artist Cara Romero, whose photographs, myths, and stories of the desert landscape will be shared as gifts to illuminate the inseparability of people and place.
3 PM | Art for a Desert Landscape
Annenberg Theater • 101 N Museum Dr, Palm Springs, CA 92262
Join us for a conversation with Adam Lerner, JoAnn McGrath Executive Director of Palm Springs Art Museum, and Neville Wakefield, Artistic Director of Desert X, to discuss what it means to work curatorially in the desert landscape. Moderated by Kaitlin Garcia-Maestas, Co-curator, Desert X 2025.
7 PM | Desert Drift
Drift Hotel Palm Springs • 284 S Indian Canyon Dr, Palm Springs, CA 92262
Celebrate the launch of Desert r&d with our artists, spirits, and Rosemary Hi-Fi to set the vibes. All folks welcome to celebrate the start of Desert r&d.
Saturday, March 9
10 AM | Climate Futures: Creatives in Conversation
Ace Hotel & Swim Club, Palm Springs • 701 E Palm Canyon Dr, Palm Springs, CA 92264
A conversation with Hans Baumann, Desert X 2023 artist Lauren Bon, Christian Rodriguez Ceja, and Debra Scacco, whose climate-related work and expertise spanning across visual art, poetry, urban planning, and policy will fuel us to imagine alternative hopeful futures. Moderated by Desert X Curatorial Liaison Edwin Ramoran.
12 PM | Lunch & Black History Tour with Deiter Crawford
James O. Jessie Desert Highland Unity Center • 480 W Tramview Rd, Palm Springs, CA 92262
This tour will introduce you to Black pioneers of Palm Springs whose talents and perseverance overcame the prejudices in the city. This activity has a price of $150 per person and includes transportation and lunch by Mica’s Soul Kitchen.
3:30 PM | Material Language: Adobe and Palms
Bubbling Wells – Historic Hot Springs Ranch • 14250 Yerxa Rd, Desert Hot Springs, CA 92240
Use your hands to get acquainted with the structural, sculptural, and poetic potentials of these organic materials with Maria Maea, whose mythical sculptures are woven from plants, and Ronald Rael, who is pioneering earthen architecture using 3D printing. Through discussion and practice, Maria and Ron will facilitate an intimate introduction to these raw materials. *Grounds are on dirt and multiple levels; dress appropriately with comfortable shoes.
Sunday March 10
10 AM | In Residence: Eshan Rafi
BoxoHOUSE Projects • 62732 Sullivan Rd, Joshua Tree, CA 92252
BoxoHOUSE artist-in-residence Eshan Rafi will share their artistic approaches of working with communities, including most recently documenting sites in Lahore based on their father’s stories growing up, and a performance project drawing parallels between political action and art making.
11 AM – 1 PM | High Desert Test Sites
High Desert Test Sites @ A-Z West • 62923 Sullivan Rd, Joshua Tree, CA 92252
Bring your own picnic lunch and take a self-guided tour of High Desert Test Sites at A-Z West.
1 2- 4 PM | High Desert Open Studios
A self-driving tour of artists’ studios in the high desert. Featured artists are Dan John Anderson, John Flores, Ryan Schneider, Mansi Shah, and Desert X 2021 artist Kim Stringfellow.
RSVP is required to receive driving itinerary.
Schedule subject to change.
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Desert X will, on request, make all reasonable modifications to ensure that people with disabilities can access and enjoy our events and programming. To request a reasonable modification, contact us at info@desertx.org.
