What's Happening
Fun for Kids
The Children's area comes to life with sidewalk chalk drawing and other creative projects. The Children's Discovery Museum of the Desert is bringing their Ducks again! Adopt A Duck and participate in the 5th Annual Desert Duck Pluck held in April at the River in Rancho Mirage or create a personalized book at the book factory.
S.C.R.A.P. Gallery brings a bag of tricks and sponsors activities with Madd Hatter Hat making using recycled shopping bags and earth-friendly adornments. S.C.R.A.P. Gallery presents the special exhibit "Tour de Trash - Recycle Bicycles".
Refreshment
Enjoy lunch at cafe' Fresh or a tamale at The Cantina or... just snacks! Convenient locations throughout the venue to just sit, relax and enjoy! Champagne and wine tastings - beer and cocktails. Smoothies, iced coffees and drinks are ready for sipping.
Gourmet MarketPlace
Take an opportunity to sample and buy pre-packaged gourmet items from delicious toffee to sensory lavender.
Entertainment
Friday, Saturday & Sunday: Featuring Incendio (Sat.&Sun.), the Latin guitar fusion band returning for the 5th year by popular request. Also appearing is San Francisco-based folk musician Earl J. Rivard.
Braille Exhibit
“Art Beyond the Visual: An Exhibit to Touch!” is the featured exhibit on display at the Indian Wells Arts Festival at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden scheduled April 4, - 6, 2008. These dynamic, emotional and colorful paintings encourage viewers to close their eyes and touch.
From her original series “Sight-Seeing” by Idyllwild artist Judith K. Lepuschitz, all acrylic on canvas paintings integrate characters of the Braille alphabet into the individual composition. The Braille characters by themselves form independent dynamic abstract patterns that support the overall composition. They are constructed of acrylic, and many are soldered onto copper plates.
To the reader of Braille they convey in a word or two the essence of each painting as experienced by the artist. To the sighted viewer of the paintings, the dots appear as integral elements of the whole composition. Thus, each piece of art is accessible through vision as well as through touch.
The viewer is invited to touch and “read” the paintings. Crossing the threshold from simply looking at a painting to tracing the layers of paint, following the artist’s path of creation has moved many viewers over time towards a very personal experience beyond the visual.
The elemental forms of the square, the circle, the triangle are used as the building blocks of Lepuschitz’s paintings. They intensify their archaic power through subtle variations in size, spacing and placement on the canvas. Paint is applied with palette knives in layers of rich saturated colors that retain the flow of the paint process, and sometimes organic substances such as pieces of paper, cotton or metal are integrated.
Inspired by texts about mediation, artist Lepuschitz continues to explore the nature of consciousness and the power of visual signs as instigators of personal transformation. Trained in developmental and transpersonal psychology, she continues to explore the nature of consciousness and the power of visual signs as they accompany and facilitate personal transformation.
The Braille Institute of Rancho Mirage joins as Festival Partner. A display and silent auction will showcase work by members who learn to express themselves through art, using form line, texture and color even as they loose their sight. Braille students from local schools will be transported to the festival on Friday. There they will meet the Los Angles folk musician who lost his sight, Earl Rivard, Jr. Rivard is scheduled to entertain daily.
Judith K. Lepuschitz’s most recent exhibits have been in Palm Springs and Idyllwild, CA, Soho, New York City, and Montreal, Canada.
Sculpture
Rock Star David Falossi
Tons of Italian limestone is being prepared for transport and the artist will be chipping away all weekend at the Indian Wells Arts Festival at the Tennis Garden, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, April 4 – 6, 2008.
Sculptor David Falossi plans to haul the untitled hunk to the event and work on it each day to show people what it really takes to be a “Rock Star.” His plan is to complete -- and most likely sell -- the monumental piece at the event.
Falossi’s full compliment of work expresses his range in ability from classically carved realism to geometric abstraction. Some creations are cast in fiberglass, others in metal, and depict stylized subject matters, such as his famed “Diver” series. Still others incorporate combinations of stone, glass, steel and water features.
“My inspiration has always been to find out not what’s in the stone, but to find out what’s in me waiting to be created, and the environments I will have the opportunity to enhance,” said Falossi.
City placements thru public art programs are well suited for Falossi’s large scale statements.
Finding art an inspiration at the age of 12, Falossi chose it as a profession then when he lived close to the museums and public art projects in San Diego’s Balboa Park area. His emphasis focused on sculpture at San Diego State University School of Art and Design and following apprenticeships, a growing family, and strong gallery representation, Falossi opened his studio in Yucca Valley, CA in 1989.
Glass Blower
Super Nova Bruce Freund
The furnace has been fired and the artist plans to be working all weekend at the Indian Wells Arts Festival at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, April 4 – 6, 2008.
Arizona artist Bruce Freund has put together a portable studio to demonstrate to the public the art that he has been creating for more than 20 years. Unrelentless, Freund is planning to work each day all day long doing what he loves most....blowing glass. He makes the majority of his glass pieces unassisted, and is known for his versatility and technique of blending a rainbow of colors.
One player removed from being chosen to the U.S. Olympic water polo team while in college, Freund went on to receive his B.A. degree in ceramics from University of California, Irvine and Masters Degree in Glass from California State University, Fullerton. He has also attended the renowned Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, WA and the Pratt Arts and Crafts School.
Committed to the art show circuit, Freund is the recipient of many awards and commissions. He is joined by 200 juried artists from throughout the country who create an elaborate marketplace with thousands of one-of-a-kind works of art and quality craft.
Recycle Bicycles
Sponsered by Palm Springs Life
“Tour de Trash – Recycle Bicycles” is an environmental art experience inviting kids, artists and local residents to submit works for both a traveling and permanent sculpture exhibition. Artists are asked to create unique sculptures using recycled and found items, mainly nonfunctional “old” bicycles. Works will first be exhibited at the Indian Wells Arts Festival, April 4-6, 2008 followed by selected pieces to be exhibited in Palm Desert and Cathedral City Hall during the month of April. Sculptures will be permanently installed at the S.C.R.A.P. Gallery -The Art Museum for the Environment in Indio.
Since 1997, the S.C.R.A.P. Gallery has been integrating art and the environment for youth in the Coachella Valley.
Tour de Trash – Recycle Bicycles is made possible through the support of The Community Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, City of Cathedral City, City of Palm Desert and the Coachella Valley Arts Alliance.
Our mission is to actively engage youth in art experiences introducing them to their local and global environment through the use of recycled and reused materials. The S.C.R.A.P. Gallery provides a link between industry, education, the arts and the environment through art programs and field trips at its facility located in Indio. In addition to field trips for students in grades K-12, S.C.R.A.P. Gallery also creates opportunities for local and renown artists to provide hands-on workshops and programs for children. S.C.R.A.P. Gallery has been responsible for impressive student created art installations in Riverside County, Indio, Cathedral City, Mecca, Palm Springs, Thermal and Rancho Mirage.
For more information, please contact Karen Riley at 760/861-6479 or 863-7777
Larger Than Life Murals
Linda Shrader
Daily mural demonstrations throughout the event by exceptional muralist Linda Shrader.
Chef Mastepieces
Saturday Only
More than 20 local and revered Chefs will offer gourmet samplings and their wine pairings. Sponsored by The Indian Wells Chamber of Commerce
Presale tickets includes admission to the Indian Wells Arts Festival
Tickets are limited. For information contact the Chamber at (760) 360-2990
April 5th, 2008
11:00 am to 2:30 pm
