Joshua Tree Voice - November 2023

kim stringfellow' s outstanding legacy the 2023 joshuas honorees joshua tree music festival reviewed emo orchestra at the McCallum

outstanding art gallery-the glass outhouse hay festival

Celebrate with us! aguacaliente.org

Thank you to our advisory board whose talents, insights, and passions contribute to the quality of this publication

We would not be here without our amazing team and the following business that have partnered with us. Please, whenever you can, show them some love!

Jacqueline Guevara Executive Director, Joshua Tree National Park Association Barnett English Festival Founder and Director, Joshua Tree Music Festival Dave Catching Owner, Rancho De La Luna Recording Studio, Musician, Producer Mario Lalli Musician, Fatso Jetson, Yawning Man Bobby Furst Owner/Creator of FurstWurld, Artist

29 Palms Inn, Agua Caliente Cultural Plaza, Casuelas Café, Compound YV, Copper Mountain College, Cork Tree Restaurant, Coyote Cone, Desert Dog Coffee, Desert Vacation Rentals, Healthy Generations, Jenifer Halbert Realtor, Joshua Tree Saloon, Joshua Tree Excursions, King of the Hammers, Larry & Milt’s Western Café, Let’s Feast Premium Catering, Nature’s Health Food & Café, Palm Desert Bike N’ Brews, Pointed Pearl, Props and Hops, Palm Springs Air Museum, Rock & Rapture Popup Jewelry & Art Gallery, Snake Bite Roadhouse, Tortoise Rock Casino, Yucca Valley Film Festival, Yucca Valley Chamber of Commerce.

OUR TEAM

Design Wizard: Jeff Day Web Guru: Chelsea Van Es Staff Photographer: Sandra Goodin Art Writer: Katie Nartonis Angeles: Poetry Corner Creator Owner/Publisher: Lisa Lynn Morgan Owner/Principal: Ray Rodriguez FEATURE WRITERS Esther Sanchez Lisa Lynn Morgan Cindy Weinstein ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS Kim Stringfellow Billy Folsom Esther Sanchez Angela Stella Kalinina Paul Moeller Matthew Hall

If you would like partner with Joshua Tree Voice through digital and print marketing, please contact us at (760) 237-0124

A Note from the Publisher

I’m going to keep this short and sweet - What a joy and absolute honor it is to celebrate this stellar community. My cup runneth over.

Lisa Lynn Morgan

ABOUT THE COVER

Gram Parsons, Michelle Phillips (of The Mamas and the Papas), Ted Markland, and Andee Nathanson at the 1969 Giant Rock Space Convention for the movie Saturation 70 (Photo by Tom Wilkes-Anthony Foutz Archives)

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PROTECT WHAT MATTERS TO YOU

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Photo: Ida Random and Julian Jones-Leitch in Saturation 70, photo credit, Anthony Foutz archive Small photo: Gram Parsons at the Chateau Marmont, 1970, in footage shot to promote Saturation 70, photo credit, Anthony Foutz

Gram Parsons’ Sci-Fi Movie, Lost and Found

By Lisa Lynn Morgan They say the desert never forgets, and if you live here long enough, you start to believe it. Lost things can turn up suddenly after a wind or rainstorm, perhaps weathered and only in pieces, but found all the same.

The phenomenon is especially strong in Southern California’s high desert. It’s as if the rock formations remember you when you return. Anyone revisiting Heart Rock in Joshua Tree National Park will feel it recalling your last visit and reminding you exactly who you were with. If you want a more scientific example, Fairy shrimp eggs, dormant for years in the driedout soil at Barker Dam, started swimming again after Tropical Storm Hilary. Why would it be any different for Cap Rock’s favorite son, Gram Parsons, and the Sci-Fi Movie he starred in that was tragically lost in the sands of time… until now.

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Decades after his death, Saturation 70, the Sci-Fi movie filmed partly at Giant Rock during a 1969 UFO convention, is being brought back to life in a book.

Containing never before seen photos of Parsons with fellow counterculture influencer, Michelle Phillips (of The Mamas and the Poppas), and Julian Jones, the fiveyear-old son of Rolling Stone, Brian Jones, Saturation 70 is co-authored by published author, Chris Campion, and the film’s mastermind, American writer-directactor, Tony Foutz.

Speaking with Campion about the project, my first question was automatic; “How does one stumble onto a story about a mysterious missing film project, and find enough material to write a book about it over half a century later?”

“In 2011, I interviewed Stash Klossowski de Rola for another project I was working on,” Campion answered.

“Stash is the son of Polish-French painter Balthus, a former drummer with legendary rock and rol ler Vince Taylor and his Playboys, and the aristocratic playboy prince of the ‘60s counterculture, who was a friend to Beatles, Stones, and everybody in between. He casually mentioned that he first came to LA to appear in a science fiction film called Saturation 70, with Gram Parsons, Michelle Phillips, and Julian Jones, and that the film was co-produced and was to feature special effects by Douglas Trumbull, who had just finished work on Stanley Kubrick’s 2001. I’d never heard of Saturation 70, but it sounded fascinating, so I looked up whatever information I could, which at the time amounted to no more than a few paragraphs in two or three books about Gram Parsons.”

Campion tracked down the film’s director, Tony Foutz, who was living in Ireland. “He told me the remarkable tale of how he had come to make Saturation 70, and all the people he’d been associated with, and encountered, across the worlds of film, music, art, and more and I was hooked. It was clear he had an incredible story to tell. He agreed to participate in an article I wanted to write about Saturation 70, which ran in Mojo magazine.

That turned into a 2014 exhibition about the film at the Horse Hospital in London. Since then, Tony and I have continued to collaborate and decided it was past time to put together a book that would serve as a definitive document about this extraordinary lost project and its connection to the high desert.”

“I came to realize that it represented something unique in Gram Parson’s story,” relished Campion. “It’s the untold origin of his connection to Joshua Tree. Gram’s association with Tony Foutz, with whom he roomed at the Chateau Marmont during the making of the film, is what first brought him out to Joshua Tree, along with Keith Richards and Anita Pallenberg, to go UFO-spotting on a remote peak in the Joshua Tree Monument. The iconic Michael Cooper photos taken that night were, for decades, the only available photos of Gram in the high desert, despite his storied connection to the area.

Now, through luck and perseverance, we’ve managed to obtain a whole cache of photos of Gram, the cast and crew, at the 1969 Space Convention in Giant Rock, which is where the story of Saturation 70 began also.

Those will be published for the first time in the book.”

Photo above the book: Tom Wilkes (Anthony Foutz Archive)

“The film had mostly been shot when the financing fell apart,” Campion explained. “Everyone involved moved on to different projects. Tony Foutz started prepping a movie he’d written about a female roller derby team, which was to star Michelle Phillips and Helena Kallianiotes. No-one really knows for sure what happened to the Saturation 70 footage or where it ended up. It may have languished in storage at a lab somewhere in LA before eventually being tossed.

That’s what the film’s producer, Perry Leff, assumed had happened, when I spoke to him some years back.”

“Can you explain the scene that inspired Foutz to film in Joshua Tree,” I asked?

Campion answered like the expert he is on the subject at this point: “From 1956 onwards, George Van Tassel, the owner and operator of Giant Rock Airport, hosted an annual Space Convention there, which was a huge draw for people across the country with an interest in or who had encounters with UFOs. At its height, it drew over 10,000 people and was featured in Life magazine.”

“In October 1969, while prepping a film for the Rolling Stones to star in, called Maxagasm, Tony Foutz was tipped off about the Space Convention by his Hollywood agent. He promptly rented a Winnebago to drive out to the desert, taking along a film crew and a whole group of friends, including Gram Parsons and Michelle Phillips. The idea was to capture documentary footage of the convention and its attendees that could be used to test out some of the special effects he and Douglas Trumbull were planning for Maxagasm. When they got to back to LA, they were so impressed with the footage that Tony came up with the idea for another film entirely, and Saturation 70 was born.”

Filmmaker, Tony Foutz, who “knew Ingram from the time he left The Byrds to his dead end,” explained his relationship with Parsons: “We were laconic friends with a shared sense of irony and caustic humor. For a spell, we were roommates chasing chimera down creativity’s cluttered trail.” Foutz first met Gram in the UK, when Gram was touring there with The Byrds in 1968. Parsons had stayed on in London, declining to travel to South Africa to play with the group due to his feelings about apartheid, which also ended his tenure with The Byrds.

Book photo credit: Wolf + Salmon

When asked what Parsons was like as an actor, Foutz beamed, “He was a natural for my film with his lazy boy smile and faraway eyes; a Kosmic Kiddie in the flesh.” (In Saturation 70, the Kosmic Kiddies were the aliens who came to save the Earth from environmental destruction) Chronicling this far out tale in a book for the world to embrace goes far beyond sentiment for Foutz. “It’s a resurrection of an imagined reality gone missing,” he shared. “My lost and found again orphan of a movie was much more than just hi-jinks in the high desert; not about nostalgia of the good ole days, but a sentient multi-layered vehicle that’s all about today’s social and environmental dystopia. It’s authentic, and that’s why it’s still around.”

“Until I took interest in Saturation 70, 40 years after the film was made,” Campion continued, “nobody really knew about it, and those that did hadn’t considered it in any way significant. Even Tony Foutz, who’d had a pretty successful career as a scriptwriter and script doctor, hadn’t thought about Saturation 70 in years before I contacted him and reactivated his interest in the film.”

“Is there a chance it could show up one day,” I asked?

Campion answered, “I still hold out hope some more footage will turn up, but fifty years on, it seems unlikely.

It’s a miracle, as it is, that there is enough material — numbering a few hundred photos and almost fifteen minutes of film footage —to enable us to produce a book that documents the whole story.”

The Kickstarter for this project miracle is running until November 10th. There are some great packages and incentives still available ranging from $15 to $500 No self-respecting Gram Fan would pass them up. Check them out at www.saturation70film.com

Contemplating the loss, I had to ask: “How is something like that lost?”

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Who Was

GRAM PARSONS November 5, 1946 – September 19, 1973

By Lisa Lynn Morgan If music was a sports team, Gram Parsons would have, hands down, won the most inspirational player. But what he really wanted was MVP. The charismatic Parsons influenced so much of what we know today as alternative country rock yet never quite hit his stride before overdosing on… well, a lot of things.

Parsons lived in Los Angeles and frequented venues like the Palomino, a place that held artists like George Jones and Buck Owens in the highest regard, which was just fine

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with him. Nudie suits, unique, extravagant suits tailored

by Nudie Cohn, were a symbol for country music at the time. Gram, as with everything else, put his own spin his, having it adorned with poppies, marijuana leaves, and other symbols of drug culture, a culture not embraced by traditionalists. It was hard to tell if Parsons was trying to put rock and roll into his country music or country music into his rock and roll, but the result was timeless music, and a million people enjoying the influence.

When he joined The Byrds at the peak of their popularity, he bought them all Nudie suits and somehow convinced them to go off brand and record the album, “Sweethearts of the Rodeo.”

The album was not well received upon release. It wasn’t until much later that the album received the appreciation it deserved, and Parsons eventually became identified as the genre bender he was.

Emmy Lou Harris was brought to the world’s attention through Parsons. Their vocal blend was iconic. Songs like “Love Hurts” seem to reveal a tender and tuned relationship between the two.

Keith Richards and Parsons also grew a tight relationship, and Parsons’ influence on the Rolling Stones is evident when you hear their songs “Let it Bleed,” or “Wild Horses.” Parsons was a great source of Americana culture for the Stone.

taking it back to his favorite place in the park, Cap Rock.

With a five-gallon tank of gasoline, they set it ablaze.

Law Enforcement pulled up almost immediately, and after the fireball had been extinguished, only approximately 30% of his body was burned.

This was an era when you could hear a guitar in every room of the Joshua Tree Inn. Parsons and Richards were often one of them. Musicians would make a pilgrimage to the Inn and then to the National Park, often drug inspired, and the music from these rooms would drifted into the courtyard.

A lot of work has gone into maintaining the Inn that was built three years after Parsons was born (1949). A shrine still stands in honor of the musician in the Inn’s courtyard, and a monument has been installed near Cap Rock with a quote from Kieth Richards (taken from a Rolling Stone article in 2010):

September 19, 1973, after a night at the Copper Room (then known as The Red Baron), Parsons returned to his room at the Joshua Tree Inn and added morphine to his already heavily mixed drug and alcohol cocktail.

Varying accounts of what happened next all include attempts to revive Parsons until he slowly stopped breathing. While his music lives on, one has to wonder, what music died with him?

“I think he was just getting into his stride when he died.

His actual output – the number of records he made and sold – was minimal. But his effect on country music is enormous. This is why we’re talking about him now. But we can’t know what its full impact could have been.”

Things got a little weird after his passing. He left behind a best friend and manager, Phil Kauffman, with whom he made a pact that upon the other’s passing, remains would be returned to Joshua Tree National Park. However, when Parsons passed, other plans were being made to fly his remains back east. Kauffman and Parsons’ assistant, Michael Martin, posed as mortuary workers and confiscated Parsons’ body, casket and all,

50 years after his death, hundreds gathered at the Joshua Tree Inn for Gram Fest. Musicians and fans came from near and far for the September 17th event to celebrate Parsons’ life, including Phil Kauffman.

“Gram and I went out there (Joshua Tree National Park),” Kauffman shared to the crowd, “and he said to me, ‘Promise me, if I die, you’ll take me out to Joshua Tree and set my spirit out into the desert.’ Well, it’s fifty years later, and we succeeded.”

Photos by Billy Folsom

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Your 2023 Joshuas Honors Recipients

By Lisa Lynn Morgan Discovery is endless here in greater Joshua Tree. Divinely stumbling into an artist, song crafter, storyteller, drama queen, shape shifter, metal bender, cherub, or alien you’ve never met before happens all the time. Scattered along the long stretch of highway known as Route 62, some of these forces of nature have been here throwing sparks of magic into the atmosphere for decades. Others are newer, still unlocking their unique brilliant voice in the craft they are compelled to pour themselves into. Having one of these stardust-filled creatures in a room is a lovely thing. Having hundreds of them gather under one historically crafted roof is a phenomenon. That is what happens at The Joshuas.

There were no winners or losers - just good folks taking turns celebrating each other’s efforts in a magical sanctuary built

by Lloyd Wright. Folks were nominated by their peers in 24 categories of outstanding contributions, and the people voted.

Those honored before, passed the torch to other fabulous efforts. Music played, dances were danced, drinks were poured, food was served, and everyone shared the moment together like it was Christmas and the big gift under the tree was community all wrapped up in a big shiny bow.

The sculpted tribute given to each artist, musician, conservationist, and community builder, known as “a Joshua,” was a thoughtfully crafted piece created by local artist, Ron Therrio. On the surface, it is clearly made to represent the unique rockscapes of our National Park, but if you look closely, there is more. There are several different elements incorporated into these Joshuas, according to Therrio: “The

cross and sun rays are a nod to Gram Parsons and are meant to reflect a sense of the spiritual, of optimism, and the possibilities that dwell here. The ‘Life Spiral or Labyrinth’ acknowledges the unseen natural forces beyond our understanding that inhabit this place and our lives. It’s also the cycle of renewal. There is a ghostly face - a tribute to those that came before and who first felt and connected with the other-worldly. The rock formations represent the wonder and awe of our natural environment and the gift of majestic inspiration. There is also an alien face that represents the night sky, the universe, and its totality – the phenomenon that defy human understanding – the infinite unknowable.” Every Joshua is made up of 25% genuine Joshua Tree sand, so no matter where life may take the recipients of a Joshua, this piece allows them to take a piece of Joshua Tree quite literally with them.

Ron Therrio is a self-taught artist/ sculptor/maker who in 2015 shifted his focus exclusively to fine art. He had worked for over 25 years sculpting conceptual models for the footwear industry, while, at the same time, working on architectural projects (i.e. Getty Villa, Taggart House, in Los Feliz., F&M Bank, Long Beach. etc), as well as some film work. Ron has exhibited across Southern California in galleries such as the Long Beach Museum of Art Annex (LBMAx), the Torrance Art Museum, the Mike Kelly Gallery, the Loft, the Venice Institute of Contemporary Art and the Castelli Art Space. He has appeared in publications such as Artillery Magazine, Diversions LA, and ViCA 2017 Annual.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

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And Your Honorees Are….

ART CATEGORY

MUSIC CATEGORY

OUTSTANDING TWO DIMENTIONAL ARTIST: Wendy Gadzuk (2022 Honoree Snake Jagger)

OUTSTANDING AMERICANA/FOLK ARTIST/GROUP: Tumbleweed Time Machine (2022 Honoree Shadow Mountain Band)

OUTSTANDING THREE DIMENTIONAL ARTIST: Dan Bartlett (2022 Honoree Hector Santos)

OUTSTANDING INSTRUMENTAL ARTIST/GROUP: Sister John Angela (2022 Honoree Los Poncho Tones)

OUTSTANDING ART GALLERY: The Glass Outhouse (2022 Honoree La Matadora)

OUTSTANDING WORLD MUSIC ARTIST/GROUP: Son of the Velvet Rat (2022 Honoree Kennedy Verrett)

OUTSTANDING PHOTOGRAPHER: Billy Folsom (2022 Honoree Sandra Goodin)

OUTSTANDING MUSIC EVENT: Furstwurld Solutions (2022 Honoree Joshua Tree Music Festival)

OUTSTANDING VIDEOGRAPHY/DOCUMENTARY: Cheryle Bookout, “The Beauty Bubble” (2022 Honoree Casey Kiernan)

OUTSTANDING ALBUM (Released after January 2022): Tumbleweed Time Machine by Tumbleweed Time Machine (2022 Honoree All The Space That There Is) OUTSTANDING STUDIO PRODUCTION: Rancho De La Luna (2022 Honoree Goat Mountain Recording)

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SONG (Released after January 2022): Stationary Hummingbird, Joe City Garcia (Revised Category – No previous honorees) OUTSTANDING HIP HOP/RAP ARTIST/GROUP: Mikey Reyes and the Feeling (2022 Honoree Mike Craftsman and the SpeakEZ) OUTSTANDING ROCK ARTIST/GROUP: Los Ponchos Tones (2022 Honoree Flames of Durga) OUTSTANDING FEMALE VOCALIST: Victoria Williams (2022 Honoree Jesika Von Rabbit) OUTSTANDING MALE VOCALIST: Pat Kearns (2022 Honoree Nigel Roman)

THEATER CATEGORY

SPECIAL RECOGNITIONS

Congratulations to all who were honored and thank you for your contributions.

OUTSTANDING FEMALE PERFORMER: HEATHER MORGAN (2022 Honoree Haley Kooyman)

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO THE ECOLOGY/CONSERVATION OF THE MORONGO BASIN PERSON/GROUP: JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK ASSOCIATION (2022 Honoree Mojave Desert Land Trust)

A giant group hug to all the talented performers and presenters:

OUTSTANDING MALE PERFORMER: JOSE GARCIA DAVIS (2022 Honoree Kevin Bone) OUTSTANDING INDOOR STAGE PRODUCTION: HI-DESERT FRINGE (2022 Honoree Live From Joshua Tree) OUTSTANDING OUTDOOR STAGE PRODUCTION: CRASH AND RIDE CABERET (2022 Honoree Joshua Tree Theater Under the Sky)

OUTSTANDING LEGACY Kim Stringfellow

VOICE OF JUSHUA TREE Barnett English

OUTSTANDING DISPLAY OF LOCAL LOVE PERSON/GROUP: DANIELLE WALL (2022 Honoree Joshua Tree No-Kill Animal Shelter) OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO THE CULTURE OF THE JOSHUA TREE AREA: BEATNIK LOUNGE (2022 Honoree Bobby Furst/Furstwurld) TRAILBLAZER: THE NOAH PURIFOY FOUNDATON (2022 Honoree Hwy 62 Open Studio Art Tours)

MUSIC: Josh Kjerstad, Pat and Susan Kearns, Son of the Velvet Rat, Flames of Durga, Pauline Pisano, Sister John Angela, Empty Seat, Mike Craftsman and the SpeakEZ, Daveed Macias, Adobe Collective, and Palo Xanto SPECIAL PRESENTERS: KEVIN BONE, LISA MONCURE, LADY CHALANE SPECIAL PERFORMANCES: Tanya Gagne of Crash and Ride Cabaret, Cat LaCohie of Fire and Flight, DJ Dave, and The Chemehuevi Cahuilla Brothers Bird Singers.

PRODUCTION: Hutch the Sound Wizard, Mario and Dino Lalli our Stage Managers, Erin and Joe Alvarez Production Assistants, Sandra Goodin Photography, Billy Folsom Photography, Photos of the event can be found on our homepage at JoshuaTreeVoice.com

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Modern Artifacts by Shahasp Valentine: The Pop Up, Rock & Rapture at La Matadora

By Katie Nartonis “Jewelry is personal, worn on the body, and is celebratory. We become part of the fabric of our community members’ lives. This is an honor and a privilege” – Shahasp Valentine La Matadora Gallery in Joshua Tree is featuring a popup show in November and December. “The Pop Up, Rock & Rapture” pop-up, coordinated by Shahasp Valentine, will be in Downtown Joshua Tree inside La Matadora Gallery. The show will feature 28 jewelers, artists, and craftspeople. It runs from November 11 through December 31, 2023.

Valentine’s Modern Artifacts Collection features historically inspired designs based on great jewels of the past, places visited, architectural details, stained glass windows of great cathedrals and elements taken from virtually every period of history. This collection is intended to appear ancient as if the jewelry has been excavated from an archaeological dig, found in a sunken treasure chest, or handed down for generations. Shahasp notes, “I am influenced by nature, architecture, costume, the Renaissance, Elizabethan and Gothic styles.”

Shahasp is an awarded and published Jeweler and Jewelry Designer. Her work has been nationally and internationally recognized with awards, numerous articles and features in books, magazines and online.

She is a certified Precious Metal Clay Instructor, published author and GIA Grad.

She has been creating jewelry since she was a teenager.

She recalls that her jewelry education began at age

13 with a lapidary class. which sparked her already strong interest in jewelry. The following year the artist enrolled in a jewelry casting class where she learned wax techniques, mold making, casting, finishing and some stone setting. Travel has been a deep influence on her work. Her visits to locals far-flung as Venice, Rome, Athens, Beirut, Cairo, Zurich, Amsterdam, Paris, and London have inspired her aesthetic and sense of style from a young age. Her background in art, fashion and graphic design also shapes her vision of jewelry design.

“My hope with my work is to contribute to the experience which is life in a positive and creative way, to enhance the rich spirit of love and beauty that lives in everyone,” says Valentine.

Valentine continued taking classes in jewelry throughout high school and college, in addition to her studies in ceramics, fine art and fashion design. In 1993 she began creating jewelry professionally, turning her life-long love into a business. A turning point was working with Precious Metal Clay in 1998.

Precious Metal Clay (PMC) is a revolutionary new material in the jewelry world developed by Mitsubishi Materials in the early 1990’s. The ingredients of PMC are micro-particles (powdered) pure silver or pure gold suspended in “clay” consisting of water and organic naturally occurring plant-based binder. The binder or “clay” is non- toxic in both its raw and fired form and completely evaporates in the firing process. “Precious Metal Clay (PMC), has given me the freedom to create the texture and movement I’ve always wanted in my work, she notes, but could not achieve using traditional jewelry techniques.”

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In Valentine’s work, stones are set in the wet clay and fired in place, a process which she has pioneered.

Ruby and sapphire (corundum) and a hand full of other stones are the only materials which can withstand the firing temperature and duration. “In keeping with the old world and natural feeling I have for the PMC process I purposefully try not to imitate traditionally made jewelry styles and do all finishing by hand, burnishing and brushing giving the pieces a wonderfully organic, rich and ancient quality. The final step in anointing the piece with essential oils,” Valentine notes.

The Pop Up, Rock & Rapture at La Matadora Gallery, 61857 Highway 62, Joshua Tree, CA 92252.

November 2nd, Saturday Art Walk will feature live music by local space-wave band, Cult of Helios and Wild East, a textiles company which supports a family in India. December 2nd Saturday will feature Joshua Tree’s own Selene Boutique, who’s curation is fresh and contemporary yet edgy.

The unique work of photographer Barry BarbourDuncan’s will also be featured in the show.

Shahasp Valentine - 415 932-9950 @PrecieuxMetalclayJewelry @Shahasp_Jewelry_Designer @RockAndRapture @barrybarbourduncan

LEGACY The Outstanding

of Kim Stringfellow

By Lisa Morgan Kim Stringfellow is a multifaceted storyteller, her own voice is determinedly absent for the sake of fearless honesty, as she writes the underrepresented into posterity. A distinctive, internationally known, researchbased artist, she utilizes cultural geography, public practice, writing, photography, audio, video, installation, mapping, and community engagement to study how the landscapes of some of the American West’s most barren provinces have socially and culturally developed.

Forgotten stories within the cultural topography of some of the most seemingly desolate places might be forever lost in obscurity, or worse, bent by misinformation, without her strong-willed curiosity, appetite for the truth, and creative mind.

Photo by Stella Kalinina

Jackrabbit Homestead Project, Kim Stringfellow.

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Jackrabbit Homestead Project, Kim Stringfellow.

Through her art, Stringfellow translates years of research into comprehensible, eugenically engaging art on multiple platforms. One could easily imagine her walking into the not so ancient ruins of the desertscape, quietly divining stories from abandoned relics and broken pieces, then transforming them into impactful echoes of the past.

While her educational accomplishments and artistic accolades create an intimidating list reflective of her extensive work and personal investment in art and education, Stringfellow is an easy soul to talk to. The first in her family to go to college, her earliest role models equipped her well. “My parents raised me in a very non-gendered way. I wasn’t forced into a mold. I think that makes a big difference. When you’re not forced into a mold, you can be and do anything. My mom may have expressed some disappointment when I quit high school sports, and my dad had some concerns about a career in art, wanting me to make sure that I could make a living somehow, but otherwise, I was left to do what I wanted. I shy away from being pigeonholed and am pretty head strong. We shouldn’t have to categorize ourselves. I’m an artist because that’s all I’ve ever been, but I am a lot more than that too.”

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Her voice lifts when she boasts about her parents who have always worked. Now in their 80s, they each own their own stores next door to each other – mom owns a gift store, and her 84 year-young father runs an art framing store when he’s not snow skiing.

One of her greatest outside influences is 1968 Guggenheim Fellowship winner, Lucy Lippard. Lippard is an American writer, art critic, activist, and curator.

Lippard was an early champion of feminist art, and the author of 21 books on contemporary art, including Stringfellow’s favorite, Lure of the Local, a 1997 study of the sense of place. Stringfellow also sites Rebecca Solnit, who she describes as “an internationally known writer, activist, and great thinker.” Her dog is named after famed photographer, fashion model, and war correspondent, Lee Miller.

Driven by a desire to connect and dwell with an artist community, Stringfellow calls Joshua Tree home. It was a long, fascinating road to get here.

“I was born in the Bay Area in California, but I grew up in Seattle Washington,” she shared. “I had a great art program in high school with a great teacher. I would say I was just kind of an average student until art changed that for me.”

Stringfellow found herself influenced by the Seattle music scene of the 80s, unwittingly finding herself on the ground floor of a young, developing grunge era. “It was an interesting time in the 80s. None of the bands had made it yet, but one of the first shows I saw was PIL - that was an amazing show. I casually knew Chris Cornell of Soundgarden as the young, handsome, quiet guy who worked at the vintage clothing store. My friends and I heard that his band was playing one Sunday afternoon. I remember it well.

There weren’t a lot of people there, and I remember seeing Chris writhing on the floor singing with that voice, and we were all blown away. We didn’t want anything to do with metal, but we thought this was really kind of cool. This was our world, and it played a big part in developing my activism.”

popular “baby homestead” movement was just getting started. An audio soundscape brings Ms. Venn to life (voiced by Claire M. Campbell, in collaboration with Georgia-based musician/artist/author Jim White) as observers peer through windows and take a mental tour back in time.

She is also the author of Greetings from the Salton Sea: Folly and Intervention in the Southern California Landscape, 1905–2005, a fascinating, well

Her projects have been commissioned and funded by California Humanities, Creative Work Fund, Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Seattle Arts Commission, and the prestigious Desert X. Stringfellows artistic research DNA is well captured in her Desert X selected project, Jackrabbit Homestead: Tracing the Small Tract Act in the Southern California Landscape, 1938 – 2008. The project consists of a published book, an exhibit, a site-specific installation, and a downloadable car audio tour. Jackrabbit Homestead explores the stories of the Small Tract Act here in the Morongo Basin, not far from the Joshua Tree National Park. Accounts from this underrepresented piece of local history are now told through the voices of residents, historians, and area artists—many of whom reside in these reclaimed historic cabins. Stringfellow built and outfitted a 112-square-foot jackrabbit homestead inspired by the writings of Catherine Venn Peterson. Peterson wrote a six-part series detailing her mid-century Small Tract homesteading experience for Desert Magazine during the 1950s, when this highly

Excerpt: “It is no surprise that Matt Leivas, Sr. is a ram.

By this I mean he is a Na, a direct descendant of the Chemehuevi Mountain Sheep Clan. An all-star high school linebacker, Leivas’ formidable stature suggests that of Ovis canadensis nelsoni, but it could be said that his serene demeanor resembles one as well. As if to confirm this fact, in July 2016, while singing traditional songs during a healing retreat at Painted Rock, a sacred ancestral site within the Old Woman Mountains Preserve, a mature ram appeared out of nowhere drawn by Leivas’ enduring song. Leivas had not noticed this ungulate observing him as it loomed thirty feet above. After he finished singing, the lone ram had moved on.”

Stringfellow’s research and resulting art reflecting the human-driven transformation of the American West shows no sign of waning. Her examinations continue to reveal the ecological repercussions of human presence and occupation within these spaces. She hopes to foster complex discussions about interrelated issues, while courageously exposing human values and policy agendas that form collective understanding of the American West.

Rock and roll experiences aside (like seeing a young, unknown Kurt Cobain and band, Nirvana, perform in a small venue to a sparce crowd), Stringfellow worked continuously hard and took calculated risks resulting in an esteemed educational career and impressive body of work. A Professor Emeritus at San Diego State University’s School of Art + Design, she received her MFA in Art and Technology from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2000.

Claremont Graduate University awarded her an honorary doctoral degree in 2018.

A collection of her photographs and books are included at Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Western Americana Collection; The Comer Collection of Photography at UT Dallas; UC Riverside’s Culver Center for the Arts; UC Riverside Special Collections; UC Irvine Special Collections; LACMA’s Blach Art Research Library; The Altered Landscape Collection at the Nevada Museum of Art; and The Margulies Collection at the WAREhOUSE in Miami, FL.

Salt Songs of the Nuwuvi wherein Stringfellow gives photographic and journalistic account of respected elder and Salt Singer, Matt Leivas, Sr.

For these reasons and so many more, Kim Stringfellow was presented with the Outstanding Legacy Honor at the 2023 Joshuas Honors Gala.

Matthew Leivas Sr., Salt Song Singer, Old Woman Mountains Preserve, CA. Photo by Kim Stringfellow.

researched, published photo book, website, and installation project documenting the natural and built environment of the Salton Sea. A 2023 limited third collector’s edition has been re-edited and updated, and is available on her website:

Jackrabbit Homestead Project, Kim Stringfellow.

Excerpt: “At one point, as local legend has it, Davis imported a half dozen sea lions, which he released into Salton Sea. They were unpopular with the local farmers who blamed them for some missing pigs and demanded that they be destroyed. Although the farmers did not hunt down the sea lions, in the end, the unfortunate beasts did not survive.”

The Mojave Project Reader Series, an ongoing collection of stories and photos such as Bringing Creation Back Together Again: The

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“I thought to myself that there must be a lot of other artists out here. Like me, that don’t paint desert landscapes.”

– Laurel Seidl Owner and artist, Laurel Siedl.

29 Palm’s eccentric art apex and 2023 Joshuas honors recipient

By Katie Nartonis The Glass Outhouse Art Gallery is the recipient of the 2023 Joshuas Honor for Outstanding Art Gallery.

Nominated by peers and selected by public vote, this not-for-profit arts organization and gallery space has earned a place in the hearts of locals and travelers alike. Located minutes from the 29 Palms Joshua Tree National Park entrance, the gallery has been written up as a “not-to-be-missed roadside attraction,” in Smithsonian Magazine and other international publications. The site features multiple art galleries and features the work of local desert artists that change monthly. The surrounding land also includes walking paths that wander through a very unique property populated with glass bottles, unusual outdoor art installations, and found objects.

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Privately owned, and run by long-time desert resident and artist, Laurel Siedl, The Glass Outhouse is a project she started over 16 years ago. Booked with artists through the end of 2024, the galleries show 9 or 10 artists at once and are well appointed, showing the art in good light in surprisingly spacious conditions noting that they hang in former rabbit barns. There are few requirements for artists to show: they need to bring a $35 donation, do their own advertising (Seidl does not own a cell phone or a computer), and bring food for the monthly artist’s reception. Donations, Seidl notes, go toward the free cold drinks, the tootsie pops and the “high quality” toilet paper featured in the glass outhouses on site. It is truly a labor of love. “I don’t make any money at it,” she admits, “But, I love talking to people. It keeps me 79 years young!”

Laurel greets visitors warmly, surrounded by her coterie of semi-feral cats and kittens and her small lap dog. A native Californian, Seidl grew up in the Bay Area and settled in the high desert full time in 1982 with her late husband.

She recalls, “The first time we came down here in ’75, we came down for Thanksgiving. My husbandto-be was a machinist, and I was working for Levi’s.

We were both walking up this road, and I stopped him and said, ‘Listen!’ It was so quiet it almost made your head dizzy. And then we turned around and saw that view! I just knew this is where I had to be. We decided we would build, and so we bought this land from my folks as a wedding present.” Not long after they were married, Seidl’s husband traded a shotgun for

Photos by Sandra Goodin

two goats. After much hilarity ensued, they mastered the milking process, and her husband started making and selling goat cheese and goat milk. A rabbit farm followed soon after.

Siedl notes that she started The Glass Outhouse when a local gallery in town would take her dues but not allow her to show her work. “At that particular time,” she recalls, “all they wanted were desert landscapes for the tourism trade. It pissed me off that they would take my money and not show my work. I thought to myself that there must be a lot of artists out here that don’t paint desert landscapes.” Seidl figured she was paying taxes on the buildings, and they should be used.

She turned the former rabbit barns into gallery space.

Naturally outgoing, she interacts warmly with the many visitors from all over the country (and the world) who visit. On the first Saturday of every month, the Glass Outhouse is open for live music and the artist’s reception from 5pm-9pm. Donations are accepted, and especially encouraged for the live band. Don’t miss this unique spot right in our backyard!

The Glass Outhouse: 77575 29 Palms Hwy, Twentynine Palms Highway Open 1pm-5pm, Tuesday - Saturday. Closed Sunday Phone: 760-367-3807

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 midcentury 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.

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HAY FESTIVAL! (Pronounced EYE FEHS-TEE-BAHL!)

By Ray Rodriguez HAY FESTIVAL comes back to life all November with music, art, dance, theater, cuisine, and a musical equestrian performance bringing community members together to celebrate Mexican culture.

The series of events is designed to foster a sense of belonging and cultural understanding.

“We want to keep reaching out to community, building community, letting all people know they are welcome,” expressed Terry Taylor Castillo, Executive Director of the Joshua Tree Retreat Center. “When I worked in education, we saw so

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many problems, but they can often be solved by getting to know each other’s cultures and why things look a certain way.”

The invitation to HAY FESTIVAL! reads “The people of Aztlan invite you…” with Aztlan representing the mythical/original/creation lore for people of Mexican decent, including culture, geography, and eternal life. Yet there is nothing mythical about HAY FESTIVAL. It is right here and right now, and with continued community support, will continue to thrive for years to come. BIEN ECHO, Y SALUD!

HAY DIA de los MUERTOS/MUSICA/COMIDA November 2, Thursday 5:00pm, The Sanctuary at the Retreat Center, Free Admission/Donation Mariachi Coachella (5:30), Machin (7:00) Community Altar, Tacos y Champurado, Pop up Mercado, Face Painting y mas!

HAY BAILE, CAMINANDO, November 4, Saturday 7:00pm, doors open 6:30, Sanctuary at JTRC Presented by Latina Dance Project Traditional music by Rebizor CAMINANDO is a poignant and heart-felt evening length dance work by Phoenix choreographer, Liliana Gomez. It is based on stories of childhood, music at family gatherings, the food at the fiestas and the nostalgia of home. It’s an all Latina cast performing to a beautiful live soundtrack by singers Marivel & Jesse Simms of Revizor, who will also do a music set before the concert. The show is narrated by Ricky Araiza of Teatro Bravo, who joins the cast on stage, reading personal narratives of love, migration and of the matriarch of the family. The title is inspired by the lyrics of Los Caminos de La Vida, the journey of life in which Ms. Gomez thanks her parents through dance, live music and spoken word, for traveling across borders for their family!

Sanctuary at JTRC Tickets $10, $20, $30 www.jtrc.org or hay-festival.com Direction and choreography by Liliana Gomez Music by Revizor Narrator: Ricky Araiza Cast: Erik Canales, Martha Patty Hernandez, Zarina Mendoza, Steven Redondo, and Daniela Prieto

HAY CINE, ENCANTO November 5, Sunday 1:00 pm Family film fun - Bring the kids to a FREE afternoon movie, and enjoy this family fun event on a new 18” x 10’ screen! Wearing character attire is encouraged!

There will even be a free prize drawing for Encanto character costume dresses, courtesy of local business owner Erin Campbell of LoverDovers. Must be present to enter the prize drawing.

Sunday, November 5, 1pm, Free Admission/ Donation Location: Sanctuary building at Joshua Tree Retreat Center Screen use donated by Latina Dance Project For more info, go to www.jtrc.org or hay-festival.com HAY COMIDA HAY MUSICA, TAMALADA November 5, Sunday 3:00pm, Food for Thought Café Learn or practice your tamale making with award winning Chef Gustavo Delgado. Traditional music plays while you first enjoy and then create tamales from traditional to the exotic.

Adults $20/Children $10, This fun and educational event sold out quickly last year. For more info, go to www.jtrc.org or hay-festival.com HAY TEATRO, HAY BAILE, HAY CINE, November 10 and November 12, 7:00 pm both days, doors open at 6:30, The Sanctuary Latina Dance Project presents: Slumber of Reason / El Sueño de la Razon Based on Goya’s “Los Caprichos” (1799) these graphic images are controversial and enigmatic - created in a time of economic crisis and social unrest in Spain. Goya used his art to denounce social abuses and superstitions. The Latina Dance Project uses these powerful images to create a physical theater work exploring how these images created over 200 years ago are still pertinent today! Like Goya they use humor and satire to explore contemporary demons like immigration (Inquisition), racism (class inequalities), technological alienation (conspiracy) and war! LDP uses haunting video, movement and text (spoken and sung) to bring to life Goya’s absurd and biting social criticism of superstition and social abuses!

HAY AMIGOS, ROLO’S PRIVATE PARTY, November 11, by invitation only HAY CINE, CHAVELA Wednesday, November 15, doors open at 6:30, film starts at 7pm Sanctuary building at Joshua tree Retreat Center, Free Admission Come see this FREE feature documentary about legendary Mexican songstress Chavela Vargas. Not wellknown outside of Mexico, you will wonder why you’ve never heard of her once you learn about her outspoken and pioneering influence in music, culture, sexuality, fashion, and feminism. Since she was known for wearing traditional Mexican ponchos, we invite everyone to celebrate by wearing their favorite poncho (traditional or not!) We will even have some ponchos available for sale, selected by Susie Thorp from Elemental Treasures/The Artful Bookstore. (If we will be offering food or drink for purchase I’d like to add that here.)

Afterwards, there will be a live remote Q&A with codirector Daresha Kyi, moderated by ¡Hay Festival! Film Curator, Christy Addis-Gutierrez.

Technical assistance: Chris Musgrave (this hasn’t been confirmed) Screen use donated by Latina Dance Project For more info, go to www.jtrc.org or hay-festival.com Christy Addis-Gutierrez, ¡Hay Festival! Curator Christy has also been the Program Director for the Fine Arts Film Festival in Venice, CA for the last four years.

HAY MUSICA, HAY CHARROS, LAS CHORIZERAS Y LOS CHARROS de RANCHO ESCONDIDO November 19, 4:00pm, Sanctuary Parking lot and the Sanctuary, Concert at 5:00, See website for tickets.

Las Chorizeras features traditional sounds with contemporary flair, alternately enchanting and exciting music for all ages. This Los Angeles based band is a must-see show.

The captivating horsemanship, lasso skills, dazzling costumes, and singing of traditional Mexican Charros, the original cowboys, kicks off the show at 4:00 in the parking lot, so arrive early to enjoy this unique pairing of extraordinary talents.

For more info, go to www.jtrc.org or hay-festival.com

Cast: Alicia & Jason Adams, Jose Garcia Davis, Licia Perea & Yarrow Perea Tickets $10, $20, $30 www.jtrc.org or hay-festival.com

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Props & Hops Beer Festival

Celebrates Top-Flight Brews for 11 Year th

Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023 from 1-5pm (VIP at Noon) For over a decade the Props & Hops Beer Festival has stood the test of time to deliver the Coachella Valley’s most desirable beery event, and the 2023 lineup will certainly not disappoint. The Palm Springs Air Museum tarmac comes alive with over 25 brewers pouring delicious suds, six food vendors serving tantalizing bites, two entertaining and danceable bands along with warbirds spanning almost one hundred years.

“We are very pleased that Props & Hops has become an annual staple of the local brewers”, said Palm Springs Air Museum Vice-Chairman Fred Bell. He continued, “A huge thank you to all our sponsors and supporters as this event funds the education programs of the Air Museum”. The event is presented by Babes Bar-B-Que and Brewery, P.S. Resorts, and Hot Purple Energy with NBC Palm Springs handling the media duties.

During the fest, attendees will be treated to flight exhibitions and have the opportunity to purchase Warbird Rides on vintage aircraft such as: the P-51 Mustang (of Top Gun fame), the T-28 Trojan, and the PT-17 Stearman as of press time. Festival tickets, Warbird Rides, and Ticket / T-shirt packages may be purchased in advance at: PalmSpringsAirMuseum.org/ props-and-hops-craft-beer-festival

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Foodie’s will not be disappointed as Uncle D’s Smokehouse headlines the outstanding list of food vendors which also include Charlie Loco Tacos, Papa Headz, and Party Pop. Since pretzels rule as a beer fest staple, Wetzel’s Pretzels has stepped up this year to deliver the doughy goods. Entertainment is provided by the award-winning John Stanley King Band and the high energy funk of Desert Sōl featuring top shelf horn players, a rock-solid rhythm section, and legendary frontman Horace Miller.

General Admission tickets for the 1-5pm session are $60 online ($65 at the door) and include eight 4-ounce tasting tickets and souvenir event glassware while supplies last. Fest-goers have the option to elevate their experience with the VIP option which includes early entry at Noon featuring exclusive beer and appetizer pairings, twelve tasting tickets instead of eight, and an hour of private time with the brewers before the General Admission session begins. The VIP experience is $85 online and sells out quickly, so prepurchase is highly recommended. Note: Additional beer tasting tickets are available for both GA and VIP and ridesharing is recommended.

Participating Brewers:

29 Brews, 5174 Craft Beer, Abnormal, Alberta Lane, Calidad Beer, CV Homebrew Club, Coronado, Drake’s, Firestone Walker Brewing & Barrelworks, Golden Road, Good Day Brew, Hangar 24, Helmsman Ale House, Hops & Spokes, Hop Valley, Idyllwild Brew Pub, IE Brewing, Knee Deep, La Quinta, Luchador, Native Son, Tarantula Hill, Thorn, and more.

Located at 745 North Gene Autry Trail, Palm Springs, CA Valid ID and 21 and over.

No teens or young children please.

Friendly dogs permitted if leashed Air Museum entrance requires a separate admission during the event

The Sun, The Moon, The Sky and the Stone By: Cindy Weinstein In the desert, time abandons the myth of constancy. Pretense is short-lived.

Everything that is concealed will come to be revealed.

The only way to hide in the desert is by becoming part of her landscape.

In the desert, the earth is laid bare.

Her curves and her bones are visible and unashamed.

In the desert, the horizon is ever-present.

You can always see what’s coming. And it can see you.

Everything is vulnerable and strong in the desert.

When it rains in the desert everything rushes to bloom.

There is an orgy of procreation. It smells of creosote and sage.

In the desert, the changing of day to night to day is a spectacular display of cosmic cinematography.

The moon is an atmospheric phenomenon in the desert.

Predators know this. So do their prey.

It paints the landscape in ethereal gilded silver.

When it snows in the desert it is holy. No one speaks.

In the desert there is the sun, and the moon, and the sky, and the stone.

These are all the things you need to know.

In the desert, even a pebble becomes a poem.

y tr e o P rner Co

©2023 Cindy Weinstein

Cindy was born and raised in upstate NY. After college, she moved to Washington DC where she established her career, her art, and her family.

She came to Los Angeles in 1993 with her two young children and stayed until she immigrated to the desert in 2017. She has been writing, reading, and performing her poetry off and on since she was 17. She has been published in a number of Los Angeles anthologies as well as in Cholla Needles. She also has a self-published chapbook entitled Lampshades From The Skin of Roses.

To have your poetry published in our Poetry Corner, submit your piece (300 words max). If you like (please know, it’s not mandatory), include a short three line bio introducing yourself, a photo of your inspiration, and/or a photo of yourself along with your composition to PoetryCorner@ JoshuaTreeVoice.com Please understand that submitting does not guarantee publication.

PC: Angelus

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Ritual Of Flowers

John Flores

November 2nd 2023 - December 10th 2023 Opening Reception 11/10/23 5-8pm MazAmar Art Pottery 53626 Mane St. Pioneertown, C.A. 92268 Photos Courtesy of the artist

Untitled Event Ritual Of Flowers

John Flores

26, 2021 November 2nd 2023 - December 10th 2023 7–10pm Opening Reception 11/10/23 5-8pm The Location 1234 MainArt Street, Anytown, State ZIP MazAmar Pottery www.example.com 53626 Mane St. Pioneertown, C.A. 92268 Photos Courtesy of the artist

in the Desert

New California Laws Addressing Future Drought Concerns to Be Enforced January 2024

By Kathleen J. Radnich, Consultant for Conservation at the Mojave Water Agency According to Daniel Berc, NOAA Federal Weather Meteorologist, at this moment in time, Southern California’s drought threat has been put to bed. Add to that there are high expectations we will be entering into an El Niño winter, making it easy for one to sit back and put the worries of water to rest.

Not so fast…

Did you know that California has recently passed new laws to address future drought concerns? It’s true, and it will impact all of us starting January 2024. These new bills labeled, “Water Efficiency Legislation,” will make California more resilient to impacts of future droughts and intend to “make water conservation a California way of life.”

These Bills—SB 606 (Hertzberg) and AB 1668 (Friedman)— reflect the dedicated work of many water suppliers, environmental organizations, and members of the Legislature. SB 606 and AB 1668 emphasize efficiency and stretching existing water supplies in our cities and on farms. They claim that efficient water use is the most cost-effective way to achieve long term conservation goals, as well as provide the water supply reliability needed to adapt to the longer and more intense droughts climate change is causing in California.

Some have misinterpreted the immediate impact of this law. It does not impose individual mandates for homeowners or businesses. The mandates will fall on urban wat er suppliers – not customers. However, one must consider that many desert areas are comprised of Water Districts, which in essence, are community owned, and therefore directly absorb the brunt of any punitive actions for non-compliance.

What are the specific requirements for urban and agricultural water suppliers? Specifically, the bills call for creation of new urban efficiency standards for indoor use, outdoor use, and water lost to leaks, as well as any appropriate variances for unique local conditions. Using the adopted standards, each urban retail water agency will annually, beginning January 1, 2024, calculate its own objective, based on the water needed in its service area for efficient indoor residential water use, outdoor residential water use, commercial, industrial and institutional irrigation with dedicated meters, and reasonable amounts of system water loss, along with consideration of other unique local uses (i.e., variances) and a “bonus incentive,” or credit, for potable water reuse.

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Urban water agencies must meet their water use objective. Those that don’t may be subject to enforcement by the Board. Starting in 2024, the State Water Board may issue corrective guidance to help urban water suppliers achieve mandated goals.

Starting in 2026, if still out of compliance, water providers may be given “conservation orders” that may result in punitive fines until the State’s mandated water conservation targets are met. The indoor water use standard will be 55 gallons per person per day (gallons per capita daily, or GPCD) until January 2025; the standard will become stronger over time, decreasing to 42 GPCD in January 2030. In calculating the objective, urban water agencies will aggregate indoor water use across their service area.

The outdoor water use standards will be based on land cover, climate, and other factors determined by the Department of Water Resources and the State Water Resources Control Board. New agricultural use of water compliance standards were also addressed in these bills.

While Southern Californians, and desert dwellers specifically, can breathe easier knowing that the

recent drought is behind us, the fact of the matter is, ramped-up water conservation practices are now a state mandate for all to follow, with targeted goals looming. So, keep saving, California! Check-in with your local water provider for tips and hints on countless ways to save every drop!

ABOUT THE MOJAVE WATER AGENCY: The Mojave Water Agency is the guardian of the High Desert’s water supply, ensuring that there is enough water today and for generations to come. Formed in 1960, the Agency is responsible for managing groundwater resources in the Mojave River Basin and Morongo Basin and providing additional water sources to the region as needed. It is one of 29 State Water Project contractors permitted to deliver water from the California Aqueduct. The MWA is also the entity charged with implementing the adjudication, a court sanctioned groundwater management system designed to gradually bring water used in balance with the available supply.

You don’t know its true worth… until it’s gone.

To learn more, contact your local water providers: Joshua Basin Water District, Bighorn-Desert View Water Agency, Hi-Desert Water District, Mojave Water Agency, Twentynine Palms Water District.

SAVE WATER

Artists selected for Joshua Tree National Park Art Expo 2023 The exhibition will be on display November 2-26, 2023, at the historic 29 Palms Art Gallery, 74055 Cottonwood Drive at National Park Drive, 29 Palms. The exhibition features artwork inspired by Joshua Tree National Park in three categories: 2-Dimensional Art, 3-Dimensional Art, and Photography.

The 64 artists and artworks were selected from submissions by 140 artists from the desert region, across California, the U.S., and Canada. The art will be eligible for awards totaling $4,000, including a Best of Show, plus an honorary Superintendent’s Award to be selected by Joshua Tree National Park Superintendent Jane Rodgers.

A preview of the artists and artworks is now available on the website, jtnpARTS.org.

Art Expo opening weekend will be celebrated Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 4-5, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the 29 Palms Art Gallery, with an art market, artist booths, live music, food and beverages. An awards reception will take place on the gallery patio Saturday, Nov. 4, from 4 to 7 p.m. Admission is free.

Jurors for this year’s juried exhibition were artists Chloe Allred, Ted Meyer, Thomas Alban, photographer and JTNP representative Alex Snay, and president of Joshua Tree National Park Council for the Arts, Beverly Krushat.

Award judges will be photographer Sant Khalsa and sculptor Ron Therrio from Joshua Tree, and plein-air artist Kathleen Strukoff of Palm Springs.

11th Annual

ARTEXPOSITION joshua tree national park

Art Expo Weekend Nov. 4 & 5, 2023

Artist Booths, Live Music Food & Beverages Sat.–Sun. 10 am to 4 pm Reception Sat. 4 to 7 pm

Juried Exhibition Nov. 2–26 29 Palms Art Gallery 74055 Cottonwood Dr. at National Park Dr. 29 Palms, CA

The annual Joshua Tree National Park Art Exposition is presented by Joshua Tree National Park Council for the Arts in partnership with 29 Palms Artists’ Guild, both 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations.

Stephanie Britt

Sixty-four artists have been selected for the 11th annual Joshua Tree National Park Art Expo juried exhibition in November 2023.

Joshua Tree National Park Council for the Arts

jtnpARTS.org

For more information visit https://jtnpARTS.org or email jtnpca@gmail.com

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Stargaze Like Never Before... Book Now!

By Esther Sanchez Having been blessed with the task of covering the 18th annual, fall manifestation of the heavenly, biannual gathering of hearts and souls that is Joshua Tree Music Festival (JTMF), I am exhilarated to revisit what I personally think is the coolest little festival on earth. JTMF is the fruition of a dream.

The brainchild of beloved event founder, Barnette English, this, “Little festival that could,” truly was and is his labor of love. His efforts were honored at the 2023 Joshuas Honors Gala with the “Voice of Joshua Tree” honor.

Photos by Sandra Goodin It’s often said by veteran attendees that JTMF is one of those things that you can’t really explain to people. Simply put, you don’t really get it until you experience it yourself. Having been someone who has worked for several of the major, world-famous music festivals over the years, JTMF is pretty much the antithesis of what the now 30-billion-dollar industry of mega festivals has become. Free from the corporate sponsorships and profit hungry interests that drive world famous events that have grown and evolved exponentially over the past two decades, JTMF has stuck to the intention behind its roots - to celebrate a vast array of music and art whilst building community and fostering an environment that cultivates love and acceptance for all.

To say that JTMF is a “family friendly” event would be an understatement.

The first time I attended some years back, I was going with a friend who had been towing her offspring to the fest with her for years. She encouraged me to bring my daughter along who, at the time, was around 9 years old. I was definitely hesitant towards the idea of dragging my child along with me to a 4-day concert in the middle of the desert without the assurance of knowing that it would be a safe and appropriate environment for her, but alas, I was convinced. A decision I will never regret.

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Once we arrived and got acclimated to the vibe, her little soul soared. She put on a pair of fairy wings, got her face painted, then sang and danced beyond her heart’s contentment. We participated in children’s yoga classes, created art projects in the kid’s craft area, and discovered new and exciting music stylings which we would never have encountered anywhere else. I will never forget her telling me that she wished that we could just live there all the time. It truly was utopian.

This year I interacted with families who have literally been bringing their little ones to JTMF as often as possible since birth. One young lady in particular was helping out in the section set aside for the daily kids’ dance party, complete with live DJs donned in plushy, animal masks. She guided, encouraged, and hyped up the munchkins in a way that made them feel free to express themselves in the most whimsical ways their hearts desired. I was later informed by a festival organizer that this was the 12th time said young lady had attended, and seeing she is currently around 12 or 13 years old, JTMF is clearly a second home to her.

(To read English’s story and the history of JTMF, check out this article in the Oct edition of JT Voice.) https://joshuatreevoice.com/joshua-tree-music-festival-fall-2023/

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Don’t get me wrong by assuming that this is an entirely family focused event and that if you don’t have kids or aren’t particularly a “kid person” you might not enjoy yourself. There is a separate camping area for families where things stay relatively quiet, and once the kiddos are tucked in tight, the festivities continue and it stays lit!

The headliners always pump out sets that compel the people to dance and rejoice the night away while the DJs keep the party going into the wee hours. And don’t worry if you look at the lineup and think, “I haven’t heard any of these acts.”

Pretty much everyone shows up that way and then leaves with a slew of new favorites that they never knew existed and now love. Elle King was once one of those “unknown” artists.

Photo by Sandra Goodin

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One of the greatest benefits to coming out to JTMF has a lot to do with the people that you meet. The vibe is palatably positive whichever direction you turn. Beyond the musical acts, there are a plethora of mixed-media artists spread throughout the property who are invited to set up and create their masterpieces live and in real time. It truly is a unique experience to be able to, over the course of hours or days, witness these fine folks create something beautiful from a blank object, step by step, as you casually meander around. These talented individuals are more often than not, super interesting, insightful, and fun and are more than happy to interact with friendly and courteous attendees. That said, don’t be too shy to strike up a conversation if you’re in the mood.

Photo by Esther Sanchez

San Francisco born, current resident of Scottsdale, Az, Banding Hendrix is a full time, “Visual artist to the Hendrix music legacy,” and founder of Hendrix New Life Motion.

Hendrix: “JTMF gives me an awesome platform to express myself and sell my art. I guess my comparison (to other festivals) is that J-tree is more of a transformational festival because they offer so many great healing workshops.” Hendrixartist.com Painter and performer, Suki Berry is, “An artist who loves the desert.”

Suki: “I love festivals that feel like a neighborhood. The vibes were so positive, and everyone really looked out for each other. JTMF is not the biggest music festival out there, which is what made it so effortlessly enjoyable.

I really liked being the ‘home base’ for people to come to and relax by my mural while I painted. I put down a furry rug for them to lay on and offered up stickers and tequila. Painters love music festivals and vice versa!

Supporting the arts is what we’re here to do. Especially the art that shines best outside of a gallery setting.”

High Desert resident, Jeremy Burr, has been attending since 2008, volunteering for many of those years.

Burr: “We come with our baggage and trash from the year, and almost instantly we toss it all into a portal and we show up as our best selves, to celebrate life, and the love we have for each other. Through any struggle, we rise together on the dancefloor, and we party!”

If you missed out on the fun this time around, your next chance will come in May 2024!

Joshuatreemusicfestival.com

Esther Sanchez is a freelance journalist, photographer, head music writer for Coachella Valley Weekly, and lead vocalist for the desert punk band,The After Lashes.

She is a Coachella Valley Native and descendant of the Muskogee Creek and Seminole Nations.

Photos by Sandra Goodin

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2023 Festival of Wreaths to Kick Off the Holiday Season Benefiting Copper Mountain College Students

Started in 2010, Copper Mountain College Foundation’s Festival of Wreaths has exploded into the holiday kickoff event of the Morongo Basin. The Bell Center transforms into a winter wonderland the Sunday before Thanksgiving, November 19, 2023. Over 50 Local businesses, service clubs and individuals create magnificent one-of-a-kind wreaths, centerpieces, and trees all for sale to benefit the students of Copper Mountain College.

new friends to our campus and students, time to celebrate, and of course, time to raise money to help our local college students. Our community is so very generous and that is magnified during the holidays. The businesses and organizations that create these wreaths, centerpieces, and trees pour their hearts into making them to wow and amaze.

And every year they get better and better! I hope everyone can join us on November 19 to enjoy the goodwill that overflows from this event.”

Sandy Smith, Executive Director of the Copper Mountain College Foundation, says, “This is an event we look forward to all year long. It has become the unofficial start of the holiday season here in the Morongo Basin. It’s a time for our old friends to come by the college, time to introduce

For the price of a ticket, $10 at the door or online at http://weblink.donorperfect.com/cmcfow guests immerse themselves in the holiday spirit.

Holiday music plays, plates are passed, friends visit, and then the live auction kicks in with fantastical wreaths, centerpieces, and ornaments

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to be auctioned off to raise money for CMC students. The wreaths are not only gorgeous but are also full of gift cards and certificates, jewelry, electronics, hotel stays, even cash! Also included in the activities is a silent auction, a raffle wreath, dessert auction, and holiday card sale with seasonal artwork created by Copper Mountain College students. Doors open at 2 p.m. to view the unique creations with bidding beginning at 3 p.m. There is a cash bar, small bites and desserts available for guests.

Check out the CMC Foundation wreath page at https://cmcfow.wordpress.com/ to view past events as well as keep up with the 2023 creations.

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Slippery scaly lizards scurry Across the hard hot rocks And, while I watch the wind swirls And plays with my hands.

I listen to the loud chirps of small birds As they peck at the tiny seeds That lay on the Earthy soft soil - Ariana B., Yucca Valley Elementary

CHOLLA NEEDLES: YOUNG WRITERS AND ARTISTS FALL 2023 During the 2022-2023 school year, MDLT was lucky to work with passionate students from Yucca Valley Elementary, Cesar Chavez Elementary, San Jose Charter Academy, and La Contenta Middle School through our Desert Discovery Field Studies (DDFS) program. Their poetry and expressive illustrations provide insight to their experience growing up in the Colorado and Mojave Deserts.

Many thanks to Rich Soos, our partner Cholla Needles Arts & Literary Library for bringing one of our Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics (STEAM) lessons to life in the Autumn 2023 edition of Cholla Needles: Young Writers and Artists magazine!

Copies of the magazine are available for purchase online. This project was funded in part through grants from the Inland Empire Community Foundation and the Society for Science. Funding for the August 2023 issue of Cholla Needles was also lovingly provided by Bonnie Bostrom, George Kirk, Peter Nash, and Janet Tucker.

The Desert Discovery Field Studies program provides students from underserved desert communities with an innovative way to learn about desert ecology and conservation. This immersive program helps students become inspired advocates for the desert they call home.

To purchase a copy of Cholla Needles scan this QR code:

This month, Joshua Tree Voice is featuring art and poetry from Madison.

“In her poem, Madison writes about how she saw snakes, what she smelled, and what she touched during our time together in class. Madison created a work of art that displays her great understanding of the desert ecosystem. It features kangaroo rats and snakes, along with her touching rocks. Madison is able to convey what she learned in a way that is multifaceted. She is a great writer and artist; she is a very smart and talented student. I am very proud of her work.”

To support Mojave Desert Land Trust educational programs, scan this QR code:

- Mary Cook-Rhyne, Education Programs Manager

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RISING APPALACHIA Lily Henley Sun Nov 19

HAWTHORNE HEIGHTS: “WITH MY RADIO” Hawthorne Heights DJ Set Wed Nov 08

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California State Library Parks Pass Initiative Delivers on Helping Californians Access Nature

New data highlights the success of the library pass program demonstrates the need to permanently fund initiative in state budget.

More than 63,000 families have received a Golden Bear Pass. The Golden Bear Pass makes it easier for families who receive CalWORKs, individuals who receive supplemental security income, income-eligible Californians over the age of 62, and participants of California’s Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program to receive a free annual, vehicle dayuse pass valid at over 200 participating state parks.

With these pilot efforts expiring in 2024, California State Parks Foundation is urging Governor Newsom and the California State Legislature to include $9 million in the state budget and establish permanent park pass programs. A stable and permanent investment would help ensure continued equitable access to California state parks.

“These programs have already made a significant impact, benefiting thousands of students and families and promoting the physical and mental well-being of Californians,” continued Rachel Norton, Executive Director of California State Parks Foundation. “We urge the Governor and State Legislature to fully and permanently fund this effort, starting with the 20242025 budget.”

SACRAMENTO, CA – California State Parks Foundation today released compelling new survey data highlighting the success of the California State Library Parks Pass program. The California State Library Parks Pass program was launched in 2021 as a three-year pilot program to remove income barriers that keep people from visiting state parks. The program gives library card holders free vehicle day-use entry to over 200 participating state parks.

“The California State Library Parks Pass program is delivering on helping more Californians access nature,” said Rachel Norton, Executive Director of California State Parks Foundation. “Thanks to this initiative, we’re breaking down barriers to visiting state parks and opening up opportunities for California’s residents to enjoy the physical and mental benefits of spending time outdoors.”

The California State Park Library Pass survey was administered by California State Parks and supported by the California State Park Foundation. Key insights from the survey include the following: • A majority of participants (63%) previously considered cost to be their main reason for not having visited state parks previously.

• Thanks to the park pass program, a staggering 90% of respondents now plan to visit state parks over seven times a year.

• Nearly 70% of the survey’s respondents indicated an income level of $60,000 or less.

• Over 63% of respondents indicated that they are Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC).

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Since the start of the program, 33,000 California State Library Parks Passes have been placed in more than 1,100 public libraries throughout the state. The program first started in 2021 with 5,000 available passes. Due to the popularity of the initiative, California State Parks added an additional 28,000 passes earlier in 2023. Library-card holders are able to check out the passes and then return them to the library for others to use. Libraries report that these passes are one of their most checked-out items.

At select library locations, participants can also check out a backpack along with the pass (with gear like binoculars, compasses, and wildlife guides) thanks to California State Parks Foundation and REI. The Library Parks Pass program is one of three such initiatives to make state parks more accessible to Californians. California State Parks Foundation launched the Pathways to Parks campaign, an effort championed by First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom and the California Natural Resources Agency’s Outdoors for All initiative.

This collaboration resulted in pilot program funding in the state budget for three innovative park access programs. In addition to the California State Library Parks Pass, these programs also include the California State Park Adventure Pass and the Golden Bear Pass.

Since the program’s launch, more than 48,000 students have received a California State Park Adventure Pass.

The California State Park Adventure Pass gives fourth graders and their families who live in the state a free pass to access 19 selected state parks for a full year.

For additional background information, please see “Pathways to Parks: Successful Park Pass Programs.”

ABOUT CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOUNDATION California State Parks Foundation, an independent, member-supported nonprofit with over 50 years of history, is dedicated to protecting and preserving the California state park system for the benefit of all. We work in parks and in Sacramento with partners, park staff, and policymakers to address the challenges parks face. To make real and lasting change we are working to build a movement of people who enjoy and advocate for their parks now, and for future generations. Learn more at www.calparks.org, or find California State Parks Foundation on Facebook, or Instagram and Twitter/X (@calparks).

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Yucca Valley Film Festival celebrates its 5th year anniversary on Nov 10, 11, 12.

The weekend will be full of uniquely talented guests, and a series of special events are planned to celebrate the milestone. The whole event is free!

This year, the festival is attracting more than 50 filmmakers, photographers, composers, writers, videographers and artists to Town. For a weekend, Yucca Valley becomes the center of the world for many aspiring and ambitious artists, coming to the desert to share their work, and learn from our community.

The 2023 official competition includes talents previously recognized by the Oscars, the Emmys, the Grammys and the Billboard Music Awards. Movies and music videos screening include stars such as Michael Buble, Danny Trejo (Machete), Wayne Knight (Jurassic Park).

The arts and documentaries program also includes a wave of local talents, and every screening event will be followed up by a picture signing so you can collect autographs from all these artists!

Some of the most notable program events are as follows.

Friday Nov 10 Red Carpet photo-op with CMC Fighting Cacti mascot Spike - 6pm Saturday Nov 11 Kids Program with 7 critically acclaimed animated short films, including “The Brave Locomotive” by Oscar nominee Andrew Chesworth, followed by a puppet demonstration by Paul Hollingsworth after his movie “Weirdos”. -1pm.

We kick off the short film night with a live martial arts demonstration by Yucca Valley’s own Americana Jiu Jitsu Collective, then a dozen of international short films will screen, in presence of the directors and filmmakers! -7pm Sunday Nov 12 New this year: the YVFF is welcoming a selection of music composers for a discussion panel about making music for the screen. This program will include a live piano demonstration

by Emmy Award Winner & Grammy voting member Brian Katona. -1pm This year, the annual script writers roundtable will welcome a dozen writers on stage, and a selection of them will be rewarded with a free Final Draft 12 software. -2pm For the first time since its inception, the YVFF will offer live music. Internationally sought after harp player ARAMI will perform famous music from movies, kicking off the final night of celebration and the Award Ceremony. -7pm The festival is admission free. It takes place at the Community Center of Yucca Valley, between the Hi-Desert Nature Museum and the Town Offices - 57090 29 Palms Hwy. Every program/block starts on time.

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Pappy + Harriet’s and The McCallum Theater Present

EMO ORCHESTRA Featuring Hawthorne Heights November 9, 2023

EMO Orchestra Taft photo by Ron Valle.

By Bruce Fessier The New York Times described emo rock in 2007 as “Ricky Nelson sings the Sex Pistols.”

But, like many disparaged forms of popular music, from disco to Dixieland jazz, emo has evolved into vast new varieties that have gained street cred, even as rock’s popularity has plummeted.

On Nov. 9, the “screamo” emo band, Hawthorne Heights, will play at the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert with Emo Orchestra, a recently-assembled ensemble featuring from 15 to 31 string, brass and woodwind musicians. Each was hand-picked by Hawthorne Heights’ agent, Ben Mench-Thurlow, to play original arrangements by Evan Rogers, a Los Angeles-based UK native who conducts the orchestra.

It’s the first collaboration between McCallum and Pappy and Harriet’s, the iconic music venue and restaurant in Pioneertown. It’s also the first step toward achieving a goal set by new McCallum board chairman Garry Kief to attract a younger demographic to the 1,127-seat theater.

McCallum President, CEO and Artistic Director Mitch Gershenfeld, and Pappy and Harriet’s co-owners J.B. Moresco and Lisa Elin say they’re hoping this copromotion will lead to more joint ventures.

“I’m looking forward to seeing if this partnership could bring a different audience to the theater,” said Gershenfeld. “Garry knows the pop world very, very well, and one of the things he’s talked about is, he wants us to expand our audience. To me, doing a partnership with Pappy and Harriet’s is a great way to see if we can actually attract a younger audience to the McCallum.”

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“We want to see how this one goes,” said Moresco.

“Ever since we put it on sale we’ve been contemplating, if we have a band that’s big enough to sell 2,500 tickets, maybe we look at this as two different submarkets of the same market, where the experience is completely different. You get the standing room outdoor experience at Pappy and Harriet’s under the stars and then you get a seated, much higher-elevated scenario at the McCallum: two shows with a completely different feel.”

Moresco and Elin began managing Pappy and Harriet’s in April 2021 and they realized last July how beneficial a low-desert partner could be. They had booked the ’60s British Invasion band, The Zombies, into their 1,000-capacity outdoor venue without realizing it was too hot for an outdoor show. So, they moved it into their 350-capacity restaurant.

“That would have been a perfect show to put down at the McCallum,” said Elin. “It was like watching the Storytellers DVD.” Gershenfeld doesn’t see the McCallum doing shows in July or August. But Kief wants to extend the McCallum season and the theater has done shows in June and September. It also has presented Americana legends such as Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash and Bonnie Raitt.

But that was in the first half of the theater’s 35-year history. Moresco doesn’t identify the McCallum as a venue for today’s rock.

“I don’t think it really works,” he said. “This show works because it has the orchestra element. But Father John Misty would be a great show at Pappy and Harriet’s

and the McCallum; Lana Del Rey -- a show that had (a vocalist with) real command of the vocals -- that would be part of it.”

“It has to be a little bit more of an elevated experience,” said Elin. “Command of the vocals and a more theatrical experience. Patti Smith would be great. That’s also a show that sells out (1,000-seat venues). She would do gangbusters at the McCallum.”

Hawthorne Heights and Emo Orchestra began their collaboration following a resurgence of interest in emo. Emo Nite, a touring party founded eight years ago by curators T.J. Petracca and Morgan Freed, now plays venues from the Avalon in Hollywood to Webster Hall in New York. It played Coachella and had a soldout three-month residency at the Zouk Nightclub at Resorts World in Las Vegas in 2022.

Mench-Thurlow, who attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, assembled an orchestra by seeking trained musicians who like emo on social media sites such as Reddit, Facebook, and his Berklee Alumni Group. He originally planned to tour with union musicians from each city supporting Hawthorne Heights. But, after seeing how union rates had escalated since COVID, he found it feasible to create an ensemble that could travel on two rented buses. They’ll start as a 15-piece orchestra, but they have charts for 26 and 31-piece ensembles, and Emo Orchestra could grow as the demand warrants.

Hawthorne Heights played Pappy and Harriet’s on a Wednesday night in October 2022 and Moresco was surprised by the enthusiasm for the show -- not just by the local audience, but his own staff. He then branded

Mitch Gershenfeld Courtesy of DeAnn Lubell.

Hawthorne Heights photo by Ron Valle.

the month Emo October and said, “Every single show was hugely successful.”

but he’s considering more country and Latino artists, plus comedians that play to younger audiences.

guy playing a violin, and will be able to take that home, and that’s going to catapult them to be a violin player.”

“To be honest, I probably wouldn’t have even known or been able to talk about this prior to that show,” he said. “But Hawthorne Heights and the lead singer, JT (Woodruff), takes you on sort of an verbal journey. He’s very much an ambassador for this resurgence of emo.

So, when you have a band you absolutely love, you always want them to come back.”

“I think people will probably notice with our ’2425 season that it’s going to be a little different,” Gershenfeld said. “They’ll see some things at the McCallum they haven’t seen before.”

Elin, who is Moresco’s wife, is also excited about promoting certain McCallum shows to Pappy + Harriet’s fans. She grew up in New York attending Broadway musicals and listening to eight-track tapes of a certain Palm Springs superstar with personal and professional ties to the McCallum. One of her dreams is getting Barry Manilow to follow Paul McCartney’s 2016 show into Pappy and Harriet’s.

Mench-Thurlow approached Moresco last November about Hawthorne Heights playing its hits, plus emo classics by bands such as My Chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday, and Dashboard Confessional, with Emo Orchestra. But he said he’d need at least 1,000 seats. So Moresco cold-called Gershenfeld.

“He was saying they had this opportunity to book this orchestra show,” Gershenfeld recalled. “To be honest with you, I’ve never been up (to Pappy + Harriet’s). But he said he thought the McCallum would be a great place to do this particular show since it involved a symphony orchestra and Hawthorne Heights.

“He was exploring: Would they rent the theater?

Would we want to present it ourselves? I said, ‘Let’s do a co-promote.’ The McCallum’s got a great brand.

They’ve got a great brand. But we have very different audiences. I thought this would be a really great opportunity for us to expand our demographic and partner with a great brand.”

Gershenfeld said this emo night will be just the beginning of subtle programming changes at the McCallum. The 2023-2024 season is pretty much set,

He’s also thinking Moresco might be able to steer him toward artists “not on my radar.”

“To be honest with you, I did not know the band Hawthorne Heights,” he said. “I know other emo bands, like My Chemical Romance, and I have since watched a lot of their videos. So, I get it. But what I like about Pappy and Harriet’s is they do everything from the kind of acoustic music that I really like to things like Hawthorne Heights. I’m looking forward to working with them to bring in acts that I normally would not go after because I’m just not booking in that world.”

Conversely, he’s also hoping Emo Orchestra will introduce younger fans to the orchestral music he loves. Mench-Thurlow says Emo Orchestra can make that happen.

Fans of early emo bands such as Good Charlotte, Jimmy Eat World, and Rites of Spring have been bringing their kids to emo shows, Mench-Thurlow said. He’s including a primer on orchestral instruments and who’s playing them in playbills throughout this tour.

“We want to encourage youths to play string instruments,” he said. “My hope is, a kid sees this violin player and thinks, ‘I’ve never heard a violin player.

Violin players are awesome!’ And they’re going to go to the merch table and see a little emo skeleton-branded

“If I have anything to do with it, he will!” she said. “I was like, if I don’t see Barry Manilow before he dies, I’m going to kill myself!’ I love Barry Manilow.”

Emo at the McCallum What: Emo Orchestra featuring Hawthorne Heights When: 7 p.m. Nov. 9 Where: The McCallum Theatre, 73-000 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert Tickets: $48-$78 Available at: https://www.mccallumtheatre.com/ index.php/shows/2023-2024-season/emo-orchestra

Bruce Fessier is a journalist who has covered every Coachella. Contact him at jbfess@gmail.com and follow him at facebook.com/bruce.fessier and instagram.com/bfessier/

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New Chuckwalla National Monument,

Joshua Tree National Park Expansion Proposed for the California Desert Photo: Bob Wick. Sunrise from the Bradshaw Trail looking towards little Chuckwalla Mountains.

Coachella, CA — Elected officials, Tribal and community leaders, and local residents joined Representative Raul Ruiz (CA-25) late September in calling on President Joe Biden to designate Chuckwalla National Monument in the California Desert and protect lands adjacent to Joshua Tree National Park. This is a historic opportunity to ensure equitable access to nature for communities in the eastern Coachella Valley and surrounding areas and to conserve stunning public lands that are known for their incredible biodiversity, cultural significance, and rich history.

“I am honored to introduce the Chuckwalla National Monument Establishment and Joshua Tree National Park Expansion Act of 2023,” said Dr. Ruiz. “I appreciate the leadership and partnership of many organizations, tribes, and community leaders who have laid the groundwork for this historic legislation. This legislation will protect our desert lands, improve air quality, expand access to recreational outdoor activities, and foster tourism and economic growth. I look forward to working with so many great partners who care deeply, like me, about our environment and health.”

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The proposed Chuckwalla National Monument will benefit the residents of the eastern Coachella Valley and other local communities. Locals have suffered from extreme heat, air and water pollution, and limited access to nature. Permanently protecting nearby public lands, such as those in the proposed national monument, is an opportunity to ensure that these places are here for current and future generations to enjoy. It is also an opportunity to improve recreation access and how the lands are managed.

“I strongly support the proposed Chuckwalla National Monument and the expansion of Joshua Tree National Park,” said Mayor Oscar Ortiz of Indio. “These lands are a great place for our community to learn to appreciate and take care of our natural environment.

For example, the popular Mecca Hills area in the proposed Chuckwalla National Monument is a place where people come to visit for hiking, picnicking, and camping with family and friends. It would also help us protect critical areas important for the long-term stability of our local plants and wildlife. We want to see these lands permanently protected and urge President Biden to take action.”

Some popular trails and places of interest that will be protected are Painted Canyon and Box Canyon in the Mecca Hills area, Corn Springs campground, and the Bradshaw Trail.

“The Chuckwalla National Monument proposal brings hope to Eastern Coachella Valley residents facing environmental challenges and limited outdoor recreation,” said Sendy Hernández Orellana Barrows, Conservation Program Manager, Council of Mexican Federations in North America (COFEM).

“By safeguarding our state’s remaining intact and unprotected desert soils and providing inclusive access to recreational opportunities, we can create a resilient community for future generations to explore and appreciate while improving our physical and mental well-being. Thank you, Congressman Ruiz, for leading this cause. Let us join together and call on President Biden to safeguard our cherished Nuestro Desierto, our home.”

The lands proposed for protection include the homelands of the Iviatim, Nüwü, Pipa Aha Macav, Kwatsáan and Maara’yam peoples (Cahuilla,

Chemehuevi, Mojave, Quechan, and Serrano nations).

There are also many tribal heritage values and cultural resources throughout this living landscape in need of holistic and enduring protections. The proposed national monument and the national park expansion is supported by the Fort Yuma Quechan Tribe, Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, and the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians.

“The proposed Chuckwalla National Monument in the California Desert would help address the gap that Latinos face in accessing nature,” said Iris Gutierrez, President, High Desert Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. “Studies have shown that people of color, low-income communities, and families with children are most likely to be deprived of the wellness benefits that nature provides.”

The Chuckwalla National Monument would be approximately 660,000 acres and the largest protected area of the Colorado Desert bioregion, which is a unique climate and biological community in the California Desert. The proposed monument is located south of Joshua Tree National Park and reaches from the Coachella Valley region in the west to near the Colorado River in the east. Permanently safeguarding these public lands and expanding the national park is critical to California’s efforts to fight climate change and conserve biodiversity. Given the size of the monument, this effort would contribute significantly to state and federal commitments to protect at least 30% of public lands and coastal waters by 2030. Some of the species that would benefit include the chuckwalla lizard, the desert tortoise, and the desert bighorn sheep.

Protect CA Deserts is a coalition of local, regional, and national organizations that are working together on this historic opportunity to designate the Chuckwalla National Monument and expand Joshua Tree National Park. This will help ensure access to nature for residents and visitors, protect unique biodiversity, safeguard the desert’s rich history, and honor the cultural landscape of the Iviatim, Nüwü, Pipa Aha Macav, Kwatsáan and Maara’yam peoples (Cahuilla, Chemehuevi, Mojave, Quechan, and Serrano nations).

“Our desert is incredibly rich in biodiversity, with each mountain range and valley home to unique plants and animals found nowhere else on Earth,” said Colin Barrows, Co-Founder, CactusToCloud Institute.

“The proposed Chuckwalla National Monument and Joshua Tree National Park Expansion would protect and connect these ‘islands’ of diversity, creating vital climate refugia and building resilience in the face of warming temperatures, increased drought, and habitat loss.”

The proposed Chuckwalla National Monument is complementary to the goals of the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP), which identified areas suitable for renewable energy development as well as lands that should be safeguarded for their biological, cultural, recreation, and other values.

The proposed monument does not conflict with the development of renewable energy, and, in fact, the monument boundaries were specifically drawn to avoid areas identified in the DRECP as suitable for development. The DRECP also identified many of the lands in the proposed monument as being important to conserve for their biological values. Permanently protecting these lands will help to fulfill the DRECP’s goal of balanced development and conservation.

For more information, and to sign the petition, go to https://protectchuckwalla.org/takeaction/

Photo: Bob Wick. Dunefield off of Wiley’s Well Road.

Dune evening primrose under the night sky.

Act is a 1906 law that grants U.S. presidents the ability to designate federal public lands, waters, and cultural and historical sites as national monuments with a Presidential Proclamation.

Photo: Andrea Iniguez, CalWild. A chuckwalla lizard at Corn Springs Campground.

The effort has already garnered diverse local support, including over a dozen current and former local elected officials, the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe, the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, the TwentyNine Palms Band of Mission Indians, the cities of Banning, Palm Springs, and Desert Hot Springs in Riverside County and Calipatria in Imperial County, over a dozen businesses, Chambers of Commerce, and over 1,000 residents of the eastern Coachella Valley and neighboring areas.

Photo: Colin Barrows, CactusToCloud Institute. Community members in the Mecca Hills.

This effort is also proposing to protect approximately 17,000 acres of public lands in the Eagle Mountains that are adjacent to Joshua Tree National Park. The National Park Service (NPS) has studied has indicated that it would be feasible to incorporate the area into the park. According to the NPS, these lands are a “key building block” for landscape conservation in the desert. In particular, the area is critical for the migration of bighorn sheep populations.

Local leaders are calling on President Biden to use the Antiquities Act to designate a national monument adjacent to the park. These lands would be managed cohesively by the National Park Service. The Antiquities

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