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 is a cool place where you can see amazing art, learn about nature, and enjoy live shows! It's located in the Coachella Valley in California. This museum was started way back in 1938.
It used to be called the Palm Springs Desert Museum. Today, it focuses a lot on modern art and design. The museum has its main building in Palm Springs, California. It also has an Architecture and Design Center there. Plus, there's a beautiful sculpture garden in Palm Desert.
Contents
Museum History: How It Started
Early Years as the Desert Museum
The Palm Springs Desert Museum first opened in 1938. It was in a place called La Plaza Arcade in downtown Palm Springs. In the beginning, the museum taught people about the Colorado Desert. It also focused on the Cahuilla and other Indigenous American cultures.
The museum grew bigger over time. It moved to a section of the town's library for a while. During World War II, a biologist named T. D. A. Cockerell helped run it. Later, in 1947, it moved again into a building that used to be a hospital.
The museum kept focusing on nature and Indigenous American collections. In 1952, it even added a desert wildlife reserve and a botanical garden.
Becoming an Art Museum
The museum started changing into an art museum in 1953. This happened when some desert landscape paintings were given to them. These paintings were by an artist named Carl Eytel.
In 1958, a new building was built just for the art museum. It was a large space in downtown Palm Springs. By 1962, they added an auditorium and more gallery space. This allowed them to show more contemporary art (modern art). An anthropologist named Frederick Sleight helped guide this big change.
A famous architect named E. Stewart Williams designed an even bigger building. This building was made in the Modernist style. When the art museum became its own thing, the desert wildlife reserve part became the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. That's a separate place now. The building designed by Williams is so special that it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.
Around 2003, the museum faced some money problems. But a retired banker, Harold J. Meyerman, helped them out. He worked to make the museum financially strong again. They raised more money and managed their staff carefully.
What You Can See at the Museum
The Palm Springs Art Museum focuses on three main areas:
- Art: This includes contemporary art (modern art), sculpture, beautiful glass art, and information about architecture.
- Natural Science: You can learn about the desert's plants, animals, and geology.
- Performing Arts: This means live shows like music, dance, and theater.
New educational programs were created for all these areas. The new Palm Springs Desert Museum opened its doors in January 1976. The museum grew again in 1982. They added a wing for Western American art. At this time, the museum was officially renamed the Palm Springs Art Museum. They started collecting classic American western art too.
Art and Natural Science Collections
The museum has a huge collection of more than 24,000 items! About 12,000 of these are fine art pieces. This includes paintings, photography, and art from Native American and Mesoamerican cultures.
The natural science collections are about geology, biology, and archaeology. They have 12,000 specimens. These include rocks, minerals, fossils, and preserved animals like insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.
Famous Artists Displayed
Many famous landscape artists have their works shown at the museum. Some of them include:
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Performing Arts Shows
The museum has a theater called the Annenberg Theater. It has 437 seats. Here, you can watch amazing performers from all over the world. They put on concerts, dance shows, and plays.
Museum Growth and Recognition
The museum received a special recognition in 1982. It was accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. This means it meets high standards for museums.
The original museum building was designed so that a third floor could be added later. The museum needed more space for art and for teaching programs. This was because more people were moving to and visiting the Coachella Valley. Also, the museum's collection of art kept growing.
So, a big expansion project started. A generous gift of $1.5 million helped kick it off. Also, a designer named Steve Chase donated 132 artworks from his own collection.
The Steve Chase Art Wing and Education Center opened in November 1996. It was also designed by E. Stewart Williams. This new part added 25,000 square feet of gallery space. It also included classrooms, art storage rooms, and a lecture hall. By March 2012, the Palm Springs Museum complex had grown 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 by the famous French artist Auguste Rodin.
Many modern artists have also shown their work at this location. Some of these artists include Tracey Emin, Anthony Gormley, and Jennifer Steinkamp.
Architecture and Design Center
In 2011, the museum bought another special building. It was the Santa Fe Federal Savings & Loan building in Palm Springs. This building was also designed by architect E. Stewart Williams in 1961.
The museum turned this building into a new exhibition space. It opened to the public in 2014 as the Architecture and Design Center, Edwards Harris Pavilion. The first exhibit there showed the "desert modern" style of Williams' work. An architecture firm called Marmol Radziner helped renovate the building for the museum.
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
