Artistic creations from the desert and Los Angeles are being put on display during a weekend of expression.
The High Desert Art Fair will bring together Southern California’s creative scenes across multiple mediums. On Saturday, March 28, and Sunday, March 29, the Pioneertown Motel will transform into an arts mecca, with each room hosting a different gallery, and other local storefronts hosting arts-related events. The weekend will also feature an evening of music at Pappy and Harriet’s on Saturday, pop-up activations and much more.
During a recent Zoom interview with the fair’s co-founders, Nicholas Fahey and Candice Lawler, they explained that the event was created to support a growing creative scene in a place that does not have enough spaces to showcase art.
“So many artists have moved out there, especially post-COVID, so it was really a vessel and a way to get the collectors out there to do the studio visits, to see the work, and really create commerce that can help support the area and help support the artists who are living out there, so they don’t have to come to L.A. to show their work,” Fahey said.
Added Lawler: “Nick and I, we are locals there. We’ve spent many years living there and being in the high desert, and … understanding that Joshua Tree and Pioneertown have long been this kind of Mecca meeting ground of these cultural movements around art and music. It’s one of my favorite places on Earth, and I saw a real deficit there: What is the platform for local artists and encouraging younger galleries to get involved? … We really wanted to build something that could create these meaningful conversations in a place that kind of forces you to slow it down, spend time with the work, mingle and make new connections organically, instead of it feeling like the typical New York or L.A. art experience.”
In order to encourage local participation, the fair offers free gallery space to some high desert creatives.
“It was really important for us that there was an opportunity for (high desert artists) to participate,” Fahey said. “Being a gallerist, we understand the business of art galleries and how hard it is to go to some of these fairs that can cost as much as $100,000, and then having to work on 50/50 (half of the sales going to the fair), and then make that money back. You don’t get to try new things; you only can afford to do the safe things that you know are going to sell. We’re really excited about doing a much lower price point for the booths that we’re selling, so it allows dealers to actually try something different, and support artists and promote artists who are doing new things, as opposed to the same old stuff. We’re also giving spaces to galleries that are already out there and already interacting with the community and already supporting the community on a daily basis.”
The majority of galleries, projects and publishers featured in this year’s HDAF are from Los Angeles.
“I was joking that it was easier for me to get a Malibu collector to go to Joshua Tree for the weekend than it was to get them to come to Hollywood on a Saturday to look at artwork,” Fahey said. “So it was, ‘How do we bring that commerce out into the desert? How do we create experiences for these collectors, where they’re not just going to come out there and buy something, but they’re going to come out there and buy something—and then they’re going to tell that story of that experience through the whole year, and promote the high desert?’”
Lawler emphasized that the HDAF is much more than just an art show.
“Nick and I have really—from the first year that we started this thing in my house, just the two of us in 2019—created an experience,” Lawler said. “There are the galleries, but we’re also doing a music showcase; we’re doing a VIP program, additional art tours, architectural tours, dinners and things like that so that when our guests leave the experience, they have something really meaningful to hold on to.”
One of the biggest additions to the HDAF this year is the Saturday night High Desert Art Fair Music Showcase at Pappy and Harriet’s.
“High Desert Art Fair really is not about one specific medium, and music often inspires the artists who are going to the desert to make their work, and vice versa,” Lawler said. “… Last year, we did a very small test of a music showcase at Red Dog, and half of the musicians were local to Joshua Tree. There was a massive positive response—to the extent that Pappy’s offered us the venue, and then it became very clear that by incorporating musicians and their excitement and love of the desert, that brings their audience to Pioneertown, and then it becomes a bigger communal circle where we’re sharing Joshua Tree.”
The showcase at Pappy and Harriet’s is slated to feature performances by Mark Mothersbaugh (DEVO), Stolen Nova, U.S. GIRLS, Devon Ross and ÖLÜM, with a DJ set by Money Mark. Mothersbaugh will perform on The General, “a custom-built orchestral machine” that is “part instrument, part sculpture, part living archive.”
“When I picked the artists who were performing, I went to Mark Mothersbaugh and said, ‘I don’t want the hits; I want you to collaborate with me creatively,’” Lawler said. “‘It’s your first time playing in the desert. What have you always wanted to do out there? Let’s talk about that, and let’s make something that’s about art in the sonic space.’ He was like, ‘Holy shit, yes.’ Every musician who we carefully curated has some kind of tie to creating music in the desert, whether they’ve recorded there; they’ve spent time songwriting there; or their favorite performances have been there. Mark has always wanted to perform there and has never gotten the right position to do it, until now.”
Fahey and Lawler said they’re making sure the beauty of the desert shines through during the event.
“Not only is there a whole new generation of artists out there, but there are older generations of artists who have been out there, whether you’re looking at the Institute of Mentalphysics seeing the Frank Lloyd Wright Jr. designs, or you’re looking at the Noah Purifoy Outdoor Desert Art Museum or Desert X,” Fahey said. “There’s an appetite for people to experience art in the desert that isn’t going to go away, so you’re going to have more art. … People are going out there to create a fantasy and create a life that they want to live, and I don’t see that slowing down at all.”
The organizers promised that desert artists and residents will always be at the forefront of the HDAF.
“Last year, Nick and I went out and handed out free wristbands and fliers to all the local businesses. … It was very important to make sure that the local community knew that they could get into this for free,” Lawler said. “It was happening in their backyard, and it was something that could be really fun and amazing for them to take part in.”
The High Desert Art Fair will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, March 28, and Sunday, March 29, at the Pioneertown Motel, at 5240 Curtis Road, in Pioneertown. Tickets are $33.85. The music showcase will take place at 4 p.m., Saturday, March 28, at Pappy and Harriet’s, at 53688 Pioneertown Road. Tickets are $65.54. For tickets and more information, visit www.highdesertartfair.com.