Palm Springs Art Museum facts for kids
Main location in Palm Springs
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| Former name | Palm Springs Desert Museum |
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| Established | 1938 |
| Location | PSAM (main) 101 Museum Drive, Palm Springs, CA, 92262 Architecture & Design Center 300 S. Palm Canyon Palm Springs, CA Faye Sarkowsky Sculpture Garden 72-567 Highway 111, Palm Desert, California 92260 |
| Type | Visual and performing arts |
| Accreditation | American Alliance of Museums |
| Collection size | ≈ 24,000 objects |
| Architect | E. Stewart Williams |
| Public transit access | SunLine Transit Agency Palm Springs: Routes 111, 14, 24, 30, 32 Palm Desert: Routes 111, 32, 50 |
The Palm Springs Art Museum (also known as PSAM) is a cool place in Palm Springs, California. It's a museum for visual arts, like paintings and sculptures, and also for performing arts, like music and dance. It has a main building in Palm Springs and a special center for architecture and design. There's also a beautiful sculpture garden in Palm Desert.
This museum started way back in 1938. It was first called the Palm Springs Desert Museum. Since 2004, it has focused a lot on modern art and design.
Contents
Museum History: From Desert to Art
Early Days as a Desert Museum
The Palm Springs Desert Museum first opened in 1938. It was located in a busy spot called La Plaza Arcade in downtown Palm Springs. In its early years, the museum focused on the Colorado Desert. It also taught people about the Cahuilla and other Indigenous American groups.
As the museum grew, it moved to different places. During World War II, a biologist named T. D. A. Cockerell helped run it. In 1952, the museum added a desert wildlife reserve and a botanical garden.
Becoming an Art Museum
The museum started to change into an art museum in 1953. This happened when some desert landscape paintings were given to it. A new building for art was built in downtown Palm Springs in 1958.
In 1962, the museum added an auditorium and more space for art shows. An anthropologist named Frederick Sleight helped guide this change. The museum became more focused on art.
A famous architect named E. Stewart Williams designed a much larger building for the museum. This building was in the Modernist style. When the art museum was fully set up, the desert wildlife part became its own place. That place is now called the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. The building designed by Williams is so important that it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.
What You Can See at the Museum
The Palm Springs Art Museum focuses on three main areas:
- Art: This includes modern art, sculptures, glass art, and information about architecture.
- Natural Science: This covers things like geology (rocks and minerals) and biology (plants and animals).
- Performing Arts: This means live shows like music, dance, and theater.
The museum also plans educational programs for each of these areas. In 1982, the museum added a new wing for Western American art. It was then officially renamed the Palm Springs Art Museum.
Art and Natural Science Collections
The museum has a huge collection of over 24,000 items! About 12,000 of these are fine art pieces. This includes paintings, photographs, and art from Native American and other cultures.
The natural science collection also has about 12,000 items. These include rocks, minerals, fossils, and preserved animals. You can see things like ceramics, tools, and plant samples.
Famous Artists in the Collection
Many well-known landscape artists have their works shown at the museum. Some of these artists include:
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Performing Arts at the Annenberg Theater
The museum has a theater called the Annenberg Theater. It has 437 seats and is a great place to see live shows. You can watch famous performers and artists from all over the world. They put on concerts, dance shows, and plays.
Museum Growth and Recognition
The museum was recognized by the American Alliance of Museums in 1982. This means it meets high standards for museums.
The museum building was designed so it could be made bigger later. The people running the museum saw that they needed more space. This was because more people were visiting and the museum's collection was growing.
A big expansion project started with a generous gift of money. Also, a designer named Steve Chase donated 132 artworks from his own collection. The new part, called the Steve Chase Art Wing and Education Center, opened in 1996. It added a lot more gallery space, classrooms, and a lecture hall. The entire museum complex grew to be very large.
Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Desert
On March 15, 2012, the museum opened another location. This one is in the nearby town of Palm Desert, California. The first art show there featured sculptures from the famous French artist Auguste Rodin.
Many modern artists have also shown their work at this location. These include Tracey Emin, Anthony Gormley, and Jennifer Steinkamp.
Architecture and Design Center
In 2011, the museum bought another building in Palm Springs. This building was also designed by the architect E. Stewart Williams in 1961. The museum turned it into a special exhibition space.
It opened in 2014 as the Architecture and Design Center, Edwards Harris Pavilion. The first show there featured Williams's own "desert modern" style of architecture. This building was carefully updated by an architecture firm from Los Angeles.
See also
- Edmund Jaeger – a famous naturalist who helped start the Desert Museum
- List of public art in Palm Springs, California
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Riverside County, California
