Steve Chase honored with Palm Springs Star

Humanitarian Steve Chase will receive a posthumous star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars Friday.

Chase, who earned renown as a reputed interior designer and continued to build his legacy through extensive charitable work, will be the 427th addition to the famed walk. His star will be unveiled Friday at 4:30 p.m. at 101 N Museum Way in front of the Palm Springs art museum.

“I am pleased Steve Chase is being recognized for his outstanding contributions to Palm Springs design and for his humanitarian legacy.” said Nona Watson, CEO Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce.

Chase’s memory is especially intact at the museum iteslf; after his death in 1994, the institution received a $1.5 million donation from Chase’s estate, as well as 132 pieces of art. Chase’s generosity helped the museum add a third floor to the building.

In 1996, the museum opened Steve Chase Art Wing and Education Center in honor of the late humanitarian.

“His collection launched us into a different realm, quality- and quantity-wise. It brought us into a new era. That’s when people — donors, other collectors — started taking us seriously.” said Katherine Hough, Chief Curator for Palm Springs Art Museum.

Chase’s extensive work with Desert AIDS Project (D.A.P.) was implemental in the organization’s growth, expansion, and aesthetic redesign.

“[Chase]applied his creative talent to soften the roughness of the organization’s early warehouse district location,” read the Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce release on Chase’s star. “The result was a comfortable environment for D.A.P. clients as they faced their mortality with an HIV/AIDS diagnosis.”

Chase served as a board member for D.A.P., and lives on in the organization’s marquee annual event, the Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards.

Watch News Channel 3 live at five for a report from the star’s unveiling.