Desert X 2021: Explore 13 Stunning Site-Specific Art Installations in Greater Palm Springs
You’ve seen the photos and heard the excitement—now experience Desert X firsthand. This expansive outdoor exhibition of site-specific art marks the first major cultural event in Greater Palm Springs since the COVID-19 pandemic. It delivers thought-provoking, world-class installations that captivate and inspire.
Running from March 12 through May 16, 2021, Desert X features 13 immersive works by international artists. They drew inspiration from the desert landscape, delving into themes of gender, race, migration, Indigenous histories, and environmental justice to create innovative, poignant art.
Here’s your guide to discovering the exhibition.
Zahrah Alghamdi, What Lies Behind the Walls
Desert X installation view of Zahrah Alghamdi, What Lies Behind the Walls. 2021. Photography by Lance Gerber. Courtesy the artist and Desert X.
Pierson Boulevard (between Foxdale Drive and Miracle Hill Road), Desert Hot Springs
Coordinates: 33°57’51.3”N 116°29’03.3”W
Begin north of Interstate 10 in Desert Hot Springs with Zahrah Alghamdi’s architectural monument to memory and history. What Lies Behind the Walls evokes a geological extrusion, unveiling layers of time and rapid development.
Alicja Kwade, ParaPivot (sempiternal clouds)
71690 Channel Run Road, Sky Valley
Coordinates: 33°55’41.1”N 116°24’42.8”W
In Sky Valley, Alicja Kwade probes space, relativity, and time through ParaPivot—described by curators as “an atomic model and geological proposition.” Its apparent instability reflects pressing global challenges.
Xaviera Simmons, Because You Know Ultimately We Will Band A Militia
Gene Autry Trail (between Via Escuela and Interstate 10), Palm Springs
Coordinates: 33°51’08.8”N 116°30’21.9”W
Head south to Palm Springs along Gene Autry Trail for Xaviera Simmons’ billboard series. Because You Know Ultimately We Will Band A Militia champions social justice, challenging white stereotypes and societal complicity in racism.
Serge Attukwei Clottey, The Wishing Well
Desert X installation view of Serge Attukwei Clottey, The Wishing Well. 2021. Photography by Lance Gerber. Courtesy the artist and Desert X.
James O. Jessie Desert Highland Unity Center
480 W. Tramview Road, Palm Springs
Coordinates: 33°52’05.2”N 116°33’09.9”W
West to the James O. Jessie Desert Highland Unity Center, discover Serge Attukwei Clottey’s towering cube structures from yellow plastic Kufuor gallons—common in Ghana for water transport. The Wishing Well evokes global water access struggles and hints at future crises.
Nicholas Galanin, Never Forget
Desert X installation view of Nicholas Galanin, Never Forget. 2021. Photography by Lance Gerber. Courtesy the artist and Desert X.
North of the Palm Springs Visitors Center at Tramway Road
2901 N. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs
Coordinates: 33°51’27.7”N 116°33’32.8”W
Nearby, Nicholas Galanin, a Tlingit/Unangax̂ artist from Sitka, Alaska, reimagines the Hollywood sign as Never Forget (“Indian Land”), questioning monuments and their legacies.
Felipe Baeza, Finding Home in My Own Flesh
201 N. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs
Coordinates: 33°49’31.9”N 116°32’50.4”W
Opening April 2021
In downtown Palm Springs (201 N. Palm Canyon Drive), Felipe Baeza’s mural honors erased queer communities of color in Coachella Valley history, including labor movements and the HIV/AIDS crisis. Check desertx.org for opening details.
Vivian Suter, Tamanrasset
Desert X installation view of Vivian Suter, Tamanrasset. 2021. Photography by Lance Gerber. Courtesy the artist and Desert X.
333 S. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs
Coordinates: 33°49’09.0”N 116°32’50.6”W
A few blocks south in a modernist building, Vivian Suter presents large, unstretched abstract paintings inspired by online images of the local landscape, exploring its two-dimensional representation.
Christopher Myers, The Art of Taming Horses
Tahquitz Canyon Way (between Sunrise Way and Civic Drive), Palm Springs
Coordinates: 33°49’23.4”N 116°30’47.8”W
En route to Palm Springs International Airport, Christopher Myers’ equestrian sculptures under woven banners recount fictional tales of runaway slaves heading south and Mexican-Americans migrating north for freedom.
Ghada Amer, Women’s Qualities
Desert X installation view of Ghada Amer, Women’s Qualities. 2021. Photography by Lance Gerber. Courtesy the artist and Desert X.
37977 Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage
Coordinates: 33°46’49.3”N 116°24’34.5”W
At Sunnylands Center & Gardens, Ghada Amer’s “word garden” Women’s Qualities reflects how diverse women in Greater Palm Springs define themselves.
Eduardo Sarabia, The Passenger
Desert X installation view of Eduardo Sarabia, The Passenger. 2021. Photography by Lance Gerber. Courtesy the artist and Desert X.
Frank Sinatra Drive and Portola Avenue, Palm Desert
Coordinates: 33°46’33.3”N 116°22’07.3”W
Eduardo Sarabia portrays the desert as a border in The Passenger, a vast arrow-shaped maze of woven palm fiber, symbolizing migration journeys to and from Greater Palm Springs.
Kim Stringfellow, Jackrabbit Homestead
Desert X installation view of Kim Stringfellow, Jackrabbit Homestead. 2021. Photography by Lance Gerber. Courtesy the artist and Desert X.
Adjacent to the Palm Desert Chamber of Commerce
72559 Highway 111, Palm Desert
Coordinates: 33°43’24.9”N 116°24’03.4”W
Joshua Tree-based artist/anthropologist Kim Stringfellow’s diorama depicts an early High Desert homesteader post-1938 Small Tract Act, probing class, sustainability, and public lands.
Oscar Murillo, Frequencies
Check desertx.org for exhibition dates and venues.
Colombian artist Oscar Murillo collaborates with Greater Palm Springs schoolchildren on Frequencies. Canvases painted at home form a large installation alongside his works, with digital archiving online.
Judy Chicago, Living Smoke
Desert X and feminist icon Judy Chicago resited her “smoke sculpture” due to bighorn sheep concerns. Updates at desertx.org.
Additional Resources
Visit desertx.org for the Desert X app, newsletter, virtual programs, and artist insights. Get the program and map at the Desert X Hub, Ace Hotel & Swim Club, 701 E. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs.
Follow Desert X:
instagram.com/desertx/
facebook.com/DesertX
Plan your art adventure in Greater Palm Springs—dining, maps, and more—here.
