LOCAL ARTIST EXHIBITIONS in Yucca Vallety

Yucca Valley is giving Joshua Tree a run for its money in terms of new art spaces and art opening events. There are now 12 participating galleries in Yucca Valley open during the monthly Yucca Valley Art Walk event held on the third Saturday of each month. This month, that falls on Saturday, April 20th.

Space Truckin Gallery will offer two shows in April. First off, is Kat Johson’s Solo show, “Welcome to the Funhouse.” Kat creates evocative sculptures made from various found and collected objects. Her latest piece, “Big Box of Luck,” is made of an antique spice cabinet and is full of charms, omens, and surprises to bring fortune and luck. Kat’s show will be on view through April 13th.

On April 20th, during Art Walk, the gallery will open “PsychedeliArt”. Juan Thorp, the Space Trucking gallerist, describes the upcoming exhibit as “full of electric color, strange ideas, good trips, and funky fun art.” Juan encourages folks to “come trip out on all the groovy art by a dozen artists from all over the Morongo Basin.” The list of artists includes local legends Julianne Elliot, Kim Farbota, Rusty Jordan, Ilan Leas, Rik Livingston, Orchid Mandala, Walker Mettling, Cecilia Romero, Steffi Sutton, Juan Thorp, and Penelope Valentine. There will be a black light room, and light refreshments will be served.

Poppy Fabrics, just a few doors down, will host “The Fiber Art Show” through April 13th. On April 20th, 5-8pm, “Repurposed” opens in the same space, as the recycled, re-used show, created with art from their workshop.

Goat Mountain Co, located in the same business park, will mount the “Retelling of Yucca Man” art show. This art by locals, addresses the mythical Yucca Man legend. Origins, tales, and lore will be revealed and explored. The Yucca Man show runs through April 13th. During Art Walk, Goat Mountain Co. will present the “Nude Show”. This group show features the beauty of the human body in “all its curves and fuzzy spots.” Many local artists are participating in this “body” of work. It opens April 20th, 5-8pm.

Katie Nartonis is a writer, curator, film maker and specialist in art and design. Her most recent documentary film, “Jack Rogers Hopkins: Calfornia Design Maverick,” about the late San Diego based mid-century designer-craftsman, premiered during Palm Springs Modernism Week in 2023. She is currently writing “Glimpses of The Joshua Tree Dream,” a book on the way we live in the high desert.

Space Truckin Gallery has put out a call for art for May’s, “Put a Joshua Tree on it, Again” showcase. Any art, as long as it has a Joshua tree on it, will be included.

Please follow each gallery on instagram for more info.
@spacetruckingallery @goatmountainco @poppyfabricshop.