Notice: ​On Tuesday, December 24 and Wednesday, December 25, the Lancaster Museum of Art and History and fellow Lancaster Arts and Culture facilities—MOAH:CEDAR, The Studio at Cedar, Western Hotel Museum, Prime Desert Woodland Preserve, and Elyze Clifford Interpretive Center—will be closed for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Have a wonderful holiday and plan your visit with us the following day ! Regular hours will resume on Thursday, December 26. ​
Three organizations—LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, LA Commons, and the Lancaster Museum of Art and History—have joined Getty as Community Hubs for Art & Science Collide. Helping to bring the initiative to people where they live, the Hubs engage nearby grassroots organizations, public agencies, STEAM educators, and young creatives to develop and present their own programs on the Art & Science Collide themes. Offerings will range from art workshops to habitat restoration projects.
​
RSVP links will be updated regularly. Please click here for our Desert Forest: Life with Joshua Trees Community Hub Eventbrite Collection.
​
Header image credit: Jennifer Gunlock, Joshua Tree Series VII (Detail), 2023, Digital collage, 10 x 6 1/2 inches. Courtesy of the artist.
SEPTEMBER 2024
SEPT
21
7 PM-9 PM
VIDEO SCREENING
FEATURING VIDEO WORKS BY
CASEY KIERNAN, DIANE BEST, AND MONROE ISENBERG
MOAH:CEDAR Hall
A screening of Casey Kiernan’s “I Thought They Were Protected” a powerful video that documents the impact of climate change, development, and fires on Joshua trees. Also, featuring Diane Best’s “Tree Moves,” and Monroe Isenberg’s “Harbinger” performance video.
SEPT
22
9 AM-11 AM
WALK-AND-TALK:
FIRE RECOVERY & RESTORATION POST 2020 BOBCAT FIRE
Devil’s Punchbowl Natural Area
Walk-and-talk (with canyon hike option) at Devil’s Punchbowl Natural Area with County of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation superintendents and naturalists Jonathan Numer and Olivia Miseroy, sharing stories about fire recovery and the major restoration effort Jonathan is part of at the Punchbowl.
​
Please note: This event is subject to postponement due to local fire activity or changing environmental conditions. Updates will be provided if postponement becomes necessary.
OCTOBER 2024
OCT
03
3 PM-7 PM
MOJAVE DESERT TRADING CARDS
WORKSHOP
Museum of Art and History
This engagement invites participants to create their own Mojave Desert-inspired trading card. The workshops are part of Lancaster MOAH's Monthly Young Artist Workshops and will be led by organization partner Art in Residence and supported by MOAH staff.​​
OCT
12
2 PM-4 PM
REGIONAL FLORA AND FAUNA
ART WORKSHOP
Prime Desert Woodland Preserve
This workshop explores the relationship between residents of the Antelope Valley and its flora and fauna. The art workshops are centered around increasing knowledge, exposure, and awareness of wildlife that exists in-between and around existing areas of development/urban sprawl through artistic representations of data and STEAM-based education.
OCT
20
12 PM-4 PM
MOJAVE DESERT TRADING CARDS
WORKSHOP
Prime Desert Woodland Preserve
This engagement invites participants to create their own Mojave Desert-inspired trading card. The workshops are part of MOAH Lancaster’s Monthly Young Artist Workshops and will led by organization partner Art in Residence and supported by MOAH staff.
OCT
06
11 AM-1 PM
HEY JTREE
FALLING IN LOVE,
ONE TREE AT A TIME
Prime Desert Woodland Preserve
Hey JTree (https://www.heyjtree.com) is an ongoing participatory art research project and mock on-line dating site for meeting Joshua trees.​​​​
OCT
13
2 PM-4 PM
REGIONAL FLORA AND FAUNA
ART WORKSHOP
Prime Desert Woodland Preserve
This workshop explores the relationship between residents of the Antelope Valley and its flora and fauna. The art workshops are centered around increasing knowledge, exposure, and awareness of wildlife that exists in-between and around existing areas of development/urban sprawl through artistic representations of data and STEAM-based education.
OCT
06
4 PM-6 PM
DESERT FOREST: PANEL DISCUSSION & BOOK SIGNING
WITH SANT KHALSA,
KELLY HERBINSON,
JANE ROGERS, AND
GEARY HUND
Mojave Desert Land Trust
Art, science, and conservation come together as we celebrate the release of Desert Forest: Life with Joshua Trees, a comprehensive collection of essays and artworks on the Mojave Desert’s most iconic plant. ​​
OCT
13
10 AM-12 PM
WALK-AND-TALK:
George Bones Wildlife Sanctuary
Walk-and-talk at George Bones Wildlife Sanctuary (99-acre reserve at West Avenue G and 205th Street West) with County of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation superintendents and naturalists Jonathan Numer and Olivia Miseroy. Large stands of Joshua trees were burned by a fire that occurred one month before the Bobcat Fire and still remain upright. ​​
A DAY IN THE DESERT
October 26, 2024
OCT
26
11 AM-12 PM
GUIDED JOSHUA TREE MEDIATION AND PERFORMANCE
BY EDGAR FABIÁN FRÍAS
Prime Desert Woodland Preserve
Edgar Fabián Frías will present a performance and lead a guided group meditation focused on the healing energy of the unique and iconic Joshua tree. Frias’ works are transformative, profound, and playful, often inviting audience participation. Their art explores historical legacies, resistance, resilience, and radical imagination, framed within Indigenous Futurism, spirituality, play, pedagogy, animism, and queer aesthetics.
OCT
26
2 PM-3 PM
CO-CREATING NEW FUTURES FOR JOSHUA TREES
PANEL DISCUSSION
Museum of Art and History
Multidisciplinary panel discussion with Sant Khalsa, Dr. Juniper Harrower, Brendan Cummings, Fred Brashear Jr, Matthew Brandt, and Chelsea Mosher, focused on the intersections of art, science, natural and cultural history, and public policy.
NOVEMBER 2024
NOV
09
2 PM-4 PM
HEY JTREE
FALLING IN LOVE,
ONE TREE AT A TIME
Museum of Art and History
Hey JTree (https://www.heyjtree.com) is an ongoing participatory art research project and mock on-line dating site for meeting Joshua trees.
NOV
09
1:30 PM-3 PM
DESERT FOREST: PANEL DISCUSSION & BOOK SIGNING
WITH SANT KHALSA,
BRENDAN CUMMINGS, J.D.,
LYNN C. SWEET, PHD, AND
SEAN MILANOVICH, PHD
Twentynine Palms Book Festival,
Old Schoolhouse Museum
Discover how the multidisciplinary project Desert Forest: Life with Joshua Trees sheds light on Joshua tree preservation efforts and the intersection of art, science, Indigenous knowledge and public policy. More info at https://www.29pbf.com. This discussion is part of the Twentynine Palms Book Festival. To RSVP for the festival, click here. To RSVP for the panel discussion, click the button below.
NOV
10
10 AM-12 PM
WALK-AND-TALK:
FIRE RECOVERY & RESTORATION POST 2020 BOBCAT FIRE
Near the Juniper Hills Community Center
Walk-and-talk in Juniper Hills burn scar with Bryant Baker, Director of Conservation & Research at Los Padres Forest Watch. A chaparral scrublands expert, Baker has done tremendous research on fire recovery in desert-to-mountain transition zones like Juniper Hills, an area where many Joshua trees were destroyed during the Bobcat Fire.
DECEMBER 2024
DEC
05
6 PM-7 PM
DESERT FOREST: SCIENTISTS SHARE JOSHUA TREE RESEARCH
VIRTUAL PANEL DISCUSSION
Online via Zoom
Scientists Juniper Harrower, Jeremy B. Yoder, Christopher Irwin Smith, Lynn C. Sweet and Daniel Oren Hastings discuss their fascination with Joshua trees and the Mojave Desert, and share their current research on the impacts of climate change
DEC
07
11 AM-1 PM
HEY JTREE
FALL IN LOVE,
ONE TREE AT A TIME
Museum of Art and History
Hey JTree (https://www.heyjtree.com) is an ongoing participatory art research project and mock on-line dating site for meeting Joshua trees.
DEC
07
5 PM-6:30 PM
THERE'S NOTHING HERE EXCEPT EVERYTHING
MULTIMEDIA PERFORMANCE BY ROB GRAD
Museum of Art and History
“There’s Nothing Here Except Everything,” addresses our relationship with the desert, with an emphasis on Joshua trees, not only as a complex and crucial environmental ecosystem, but as a spiritual center with influence that reaches much further than its physical presence.