Insider Tips to Experiencing the Palm Springs Art Museum

The Palm Springs Art Museum is a local gem which is actually more than just a museum, expressed best in their mission statement: “As a cultural and educational leader in the greater desert community, the Palm Springs Art Museum provides extraordinary creative encounters based on its collections of modern and contemporary art and traditional art of the Americas.” The Palm Springs Art Museum has three locations, each with their own unique focus. Here’s your insider’s guide to this cultural gem.

The Palm Springs Art Museum

The Palm Springs Art Museum is the only major art museum located between Los Angeles and Phoenix. The original name was the Palm Springs Desert Museum in 1938 when it was located at the La Plaza Arcade and featured mainly Native American pieces of tribes native to the Coachella valley. The Palm Springs Art Museum’s current permanent art collection contains 19th, 20th and 21st century works highlighting several art styles including contemporary California art, Native American, classic western, Mexican & European art and American photography. Among the 28 galleries you will also find sculpture gardens, classrooms, a lecture hall, the Annenberg Theatre and a cafe called the Muse.

Palm Springs Art Museum is located in downtown Palm Springs at 101 Museum Drive.  The museum is open Friday through Wednesday from 10 am – 5 pm and on Thursday from noon – 8 pm. Admission is $12.50 for adults, $10.50 for seniors and free for active military. For the budget minded, free admission is offered every Thursday from 4-8 pm and the second Sunday of each month.

Palm Springs Art Museum Architecture & Design Center

The Palm Springs Architecture & Design Center is an inspiring place to visit in the midst of the city, a celebration of the area’s unique mid-century design for which it is well known. This new museum both preserves and displays the country’s largest collection of Desert Modernism architecture found in private & commercial structures around Palm Springs. it is the ideal place to visit to learn about the Coachella valley’s unique place in architectural history.

The building itself, originally constructed for the Santa Fe Federal Savings and Loan, was built by renowned mid-century architect E. Stewart Williams in 1961. The Palm Springs Art Museum purchased the abandoned building in 2011 and directed the remodeling, which was done by the Los Angeles architectural Marmol Radziner. Since Palm Springs has the highest concentration of mid-century architecture per capita in the world, it’s filling that there’s a museum that pays homage to this style of architecture and design.

The Architecture & Design Center is located at 300 S Palm Canyon Dr in downtown Palm Springs. It is open Friday through Wednesday from 10 am – 5 pm and on Thursday from noon – 8 pm. Admission is free for everyone, everyday!

Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Desert

The third location known as the Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Desert opened its doors in March 2012 in an architecturally distinctive, LEED-certified building named The Galen, extending the reach of the museum to the middle and eastern ends of the Coachella Valley. Four gallery areas highlight rotating exhibits of internationally important art comprised of sculpture, painting, photography and new media. Outside the Galen, the Faye Sarkowsky Sculpture Garden encompasses four acres of impressive landscaped gardens containing more than 10 significant sculpture works. Stroll down the winding pathways through a desert oasis and enjoy the art of modern masters including Donald Judd, Betty Gold, Yehiel Shemi, Jesús Bautista Moroles, Dave McGary and others.

 

 

The Architecture & Design Center is located at 72567 CA-111 in Palm Desert. It is open Friday through Wednesday from 10 am – 5 pm and on Thursday from noon – 8 pm. Admission is free for to the Galen and Sculpture Garden, everyday!

Photo Credit: Raphael Koh, Unsplash.com