El paseo galleries palm desert

Notice: It is simply dangerous to vacation in Palm Springs with infants or even toddlers during the month of summer season, May through September,  for an apparent danger – the heat stroke. 40C (110F ) degrees weather is a common every day occurrence in Palm Springs. In fact, there are days when you can literally cook an egg on a stone just in a few minutes; now imagine how quickly your baby will be broiled.  

Roaming “the el” near Palm springs

Tip: Best way to explore the galleries is by typing “El Paseo galleries” into Google maps and all the locations will be perfectly pinned on your phone for convenient navigation.

‘A little rodeo drive of the desert’, a place uninhabitable for 5-6 month out of the year El paseo is one of a kind top of spot in all of California. Many of the modern art pieces call El Paseo their home and for a good reason. When 365 days out of the year are filled with sunshine and warmth it is hard to pass by an art piece and not examine how it shines in the broad day light. In fact most of the art pieces are quite vibrant and colorful as if the galleries were toy shops filled with catchy objects.

Modern Day Copy cats on el paseo

Most common media implemented are painings, a few photographs and quite a bit of sculptures or better to call them abstract art installations.  You will find copy cats of Alexander Calder with his mobiles, Georgia O’Keeffe abstract desert landsacapes, Pablo Picaso (you can actually find a few PIcaso sketches at one of the establishment), ultra abstracts from Marc Chagall, Salvador Dali (melting objects) – similar to objects found in Elena Bulatova Studio & Gallery.

You will basically find modern day copy cats with very few innovative perspectives on today’s, actual today’s  art explosion. It feels like the art was suffocated by odd conservative purses and presented in a slightly commercial – “let’s put it [art] in the hotel” type of vibe. The pieces appear to be more of an investment rather appreciation of art. It’s almost quite to observe the tasteless choices of the California’s patricians.  Nevertheless, something is always better than empty space.

I was actually intrigued by a couple of the artists such as Clovis and Richard McDonald. There are actually many modern day artists who have exceptionally unique and fascinating signatures in sculpture, paining and photography presented at the el paseo galleries in Palm Desert. Although their presence is limited to a handful of pieces. It takes a bit of time to see all the galleries and find those unusual artists, although totally worth the search.

Art life of the Palm desert

Comparatively speaking, el paseo  is a pleasant art walk street full of delightful pieces well suited for the tastes of Californians. I would like to see it evolve; although with so many conservative residents the change will follow at a snail pace.

Besides the galleries you will find dozens of shops situated around The gardens el paseo plaza. There are a few small restaurants; although the majority of good spots seem to be seasonal as well. They basically close for the duration of summer due to unreasonable operation costs.

I’d recommend combining the visit to the art walk of the desert with a trip to Living Desert Zoo in Palm desert. And of course a stop for lunch at an authentic western themed high quality restaurant, bar and a brewery – Babe’s BBQ. Joshua Tree National park is also within stone throw’s distance and could be a fun add on to your itinerary. I also highly suggest that you visit any open spaces in the desert during the winter month. I would conversely recommend an ascend on a tram up to San Jacinto and round valley – a fun a pleasant hike for explorers of all ages during the summer month. If you crave some reasonably affordable shopping after walking around all the art galleries, check out Cabazon outlets on the way back to Los Angeles.