EMERGENCE EXHIBITION – CULTURAL CENTER

The Hi-Desert Cultural Center’s state-of-the-art gallery opened on December 11, 2021 as part of an innovative new partnership with the renowned multi- national gallery, ARTCO.

With a grand opening in June 2018, the Yucca Valley Visual & Performing Arts Center was forced to close fewer than two years later in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic mandates and has remained without any exhibitions or programming for nearly 19 months. While the pandemic has been financially devastating for nearly all arts organizations, including the Cultural Center, the downtime has given the Center time to further implement its intended vision for the gallery — to be an avid participant in the international arts community, highlight the beauty of commonality within diversity, and represent the Greater Joshua Tree area.

“We are thrilled to be collaborating with ARTCO to move forward and take this anticipated next step in fulfilling the original vision for this cutting-edge venue,” explains Jarrod Radnich, the Cultural Center’s president. ARTCO maintains galleries in Berlin, Aachen, and Cape Town, and now comes to Greater Joshua Tree in this collaboration with the Cultural Center.

The first exhibition fills the gallery with the photographic artwork of two acclaimed artists, Michael Childers and Gordon Clark. Both artists are presenting new works as well as works that have adorned the walls of esteemed museums and galleries around the world. Gordon Clark, a photographic and cinematic powerhouse, exhibits four bodies of work — Timeline (momentous Joshua Tree landscapes), Messages to Self (inside the life and mind of David

Kilburn), Who Am I? (Leon Botha), Growing Big in Gang Land (Cape Town South Africa). Michael Childers, an iconic living legend, exhibits his famous 70’s Drag Queens, which was chosen for presentation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, several of his most famed and sought-after portraits of Hollywood stars, and his newest body of work, ”Dreams of Kiefer.”

The exhibition is currently open for viewing from 1-5 pm, and closes March 13, 2022.

A mid-exhibit, Artists’ Gala will be held on January 22nd at 5 pm.

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