Local high school art students visit Desert X sites

Local art students from Desert Hot Springs High School visited several art sites Wednesday as part of a collaboration between Desert X and the Palm Springs Unified School District. This is the first year of the collaboration.

The sites the students visited included the mirror house titled MIRAGE in Palm Springs by Doug Aitken and a sculpture titled One I Call by Sherin Guirguis in the Whitewater Preserve. Around 40 students took part in the trip and were able to see up close many of the sites.

“It’s pretty cool,” Angela Rodriguez, a senior art student, said. “I wish it could stay longer. I feel like it should stay forever here. It will be nice for everyone else to come look at it.”

School officials hoped the trip would help inspire creativity for the art students.

“I think it gives them a new perspective,” Louisa Castrodale, Arts Coordinator for the Palm Springs Unified School District, said. “It takes them out of the classroom and shows them what’s possible. They could be doing outdoor sculptures, or they could be doing grand projects one day.

Castrodale said the district was looking forward to continuing the collaboration with Desert X.
Desert X will run until April 30 and a list of sites can be found here.