Desert X gives sneak peek into 2025 art installations around the Coachella Valley

Desert X is one of the Valley's most requested events, and it's back better than ever for its 2025 art installations.

Scattered across the Coachella Valley, anyone can take a tour of the 11 art pieces for free. Organizers said they want to make sure art and the spiritual journey it can take you on is available to everyone.

News Channel 3 got a sneak peek with an opening preview tour, and spoke with organizers and artists.

Ronald Rael, the artist of "Adobe Oasis," is hoping his structure makes a change in construction. He used a mixture of sand, clay and straw to create a mud paste for the walls of his installation.

While this technique may be 10,000 years old, Rael used new technology for a more efficient process which took him eight weeks to complete. However, Rael said this Adobe structure is not new to the Valley and should be used more in construction.

“If we just walk a couple blocks from here, we will find 100 year old Adobe houses that are still lived in and that are modern and beautiful and clean," he said. "The problem is that we’ve separated ourselves from building buildings this way, and I think the robotics and 3D printing might be a way to continue this building process forward in the future.”

Neville Wakefield, the founding artistic director of Desert X said this type of construction and artistic message is relevant now more than ever.

“We just experienced the LA fires, and so we’re thinking about how buildings are made and how contemporary technologies may in fact not be the most resilient," Wakefield said. "So to have this artist kind of leading that discussion is very exciting.”

Supervisor Manuel Perez of Riverside County Fourth District, said he hopes the community builds an awareness of the environment from walking through the installations.

“A lot of folks don’t appreciate the fact that climate change does exist," Perez said. — "the artists are using the environment...and educating people about the importance of taking care of the environment.”

You can see the Desert X installations from March 8 through May 11, and take a self or guided tour through the Desert X app. More information can be found at https://desertx.org/

Desert X 2025 Artists

• Sanford Biggers "Unsui (Mirror)"
• Jose Dávila "The act of being together"
• Agnes Denes "The Living Pyramid"
• Cannupa Hanska Luger "G.H.O.S.T Ride"
• Rafael Hefti "Five Things You Can't Wear on TV"
• Kimsooja "To Breathe - Coachella Valley"
• Sarah Meyohas "Truth Arrives in Slanted Beams"
• Ronald Rael "Adobe Oasis"
• Alison Saar "Soul Service Station"
• Muhannad Shono "What Remains"
• Kapwani Kiwanga