I typically interview artists and do a feature, but this blog I am doing it a Iittle different.  The two main publications wrote about the unveiling of the Indio Jackson Street Bridge and the artists had their media appropriate responses so I decided to take a different route and interview people's opinions about this mural and the proposed murals to go up in DHS at $60,000 each according to the Desert Sun.   I reached out to Indio's Public Arts person but have yet to receive a response, so let's get into it!

There was public opinion on this Mural and I found it interesting that there was negativity around it.  I mean, have you been to Indio Blvd?   As I drove through Indio Blvd this particular day to look at the mural, I tried to see it through the eyes of someone not familiar with the area and I paid attention to all of the low budget hotels to the right, the industrial wasteland to the left, and I couldn't help but hear the man yelling at me or someone to go fuck themselves at the light at Monroe as you could clearly see they were on drugs/had mental issues.   As I got to the mural itself, it's hard not to notice the transients walking around and the abundance of trash in the alley next to it.   So why would someone have an issue with beautifying this part of the city?  Clearly, it's needed.  Who wouldn't want that?

The issues boiled down to:

1.  They didn't use local artists- according to one person (I will keep all people anonymous in this article because I can)  Indio boasts about community and about supporting and giving back and then they went and chose 2 muralists from another state.  So what that means is they didn't inject all that mural money back into our community and I'm guessing it was anywhere around $100,000 or more (huge bridge)  but not sure since I wasn't able to clarify.   There were only 3 artists who put in for this bid and 2 of them were local and the other was the duo who got picked (says a source).  It's a whole thing and it takes MONTHS.  Not every local artist wants these projects FYI.

 2.  Spending that much money on a mural and the amount - Everyone will always have an issue with this.   Artists need to get paid though.  Materials need to be bought.   No they haven't fixed your potholes or helped with the homelessness (new center just opened up though) so how can they spend that much money?  Wait till the cannabis money starts rolling in.  I feel like if this was 2009 and Shepard Fairey painted this mural everyone would be sucking his dick instead of complaining -  Until they see how much an artist of that caliber would expect to get paid - Hundreds of Thousands.   Tax dollars for art, people aren't always receptive to that. 

3.  What was actually painted.  As an artist I understand that city projects need to be cookie cutter and generally basic to appease everyone but a lot was said about how could two people not from here paint about our valley.  I actually really love the mural but my OCD couldn't handle the unfinished lines which was part of the style, so I had to get over it.   

 

I wrote to 25 artists and reached out to civilians about their opinions on this mural and the murals in DHS.  Here are the responses I did get back.  It seemed like everyone wanted to comment but couldn't get me a response in time so fuck me.   I will be keeping their names out of this because I wanted the truth and because I can.

-These guys didn’t capture shit about our city. Anyone can draw cactuses and native designs and call it what they want. Also the murals lined aren’t clean…wtf lol. It’s ok not going to bash it but not great.

-While I see the allure of bringing in an outside artist with name value to paint such a mural, I would much rather see our municipalities work with local artists and organizations (such as Raices Cultura) for these types of projects.

-As a frequent patron of Rincon most Sundays, I can say the murals have enlightened me personally. The color palette actually moved me and brought me a feeling of happiness, where so many years of dull colorless concrete draped the Jackson street bridge like an iron curtain. Old town Indio has a vibe of its own from the building murals that remind us of the valley history, cultura, and people.

-Damn, they spend that much money on murals? They shitted on all the local artists out here.

-Oh man I have so many opinions on the Indio art commission. As for the mural, any art brought to our area is a good thing. It beautifies the area and sparks conversation.

-I think it’s good to diversify the art landscape in a city. I don't have much of an opinion, maybe if I saw the other proposals but I think it looks good. (I personally did not want to work under that bridge it’s way too risky for a job)

 

Let's Talk about DHS.

According to the Desert Sun there are 3 new murals being commissioned at $60,000 each and the artists have been picked:  

Presa Hall – from Utah,

Michael Ferrarell – from Kentucky

JMEL – from Austin, TX.

Here's what people from DHS had to say:

-I went to the city council meeting where Casey (7th Letter) presented his bid for that mural on the corner of Palm & Pierson. He got $86,000 for that.  I think i should be doing all of the city's lettering work.  I'm just glad to be seeing money spent on art. I don't care who does it. I just want more of it.

Photo from the city of Desert Hot Springs website

-Desert Hot Springs is really coming in looking crazy for this one! 60k each to 3 muralists to “revive the downtown area?” You’ve got to be KIDDING me. In Desert Hot Springs, groceries at the local chain supermarkets are marked up at least 20% due to knowledge of the city’s residents being majority government subsidized (hello EBT) compared to chain locations in neighboring cities of Yucca Valley and Palm Springs. Not fair. Pay attention next time you shop! In Desert Hot Springs, you cannot buy sneakers, socks, underwear and other basic ass items unless you go to the expensive marked up Walgreens and Rite Aid – meant for TRAVELERS. Not fair.

For Desert Hot Springs to build excitement around these new art installations in the midst of their consistent poor run down socio-economic status as “where people live, not work” and slap some high school students in it to gold star their efforts is wild to me. According to the Desert Sun, the artists include Presa Hall – from Utah, Michael Ferrarell – from Kentucky, and JMEL – from Austin, TX. UM???? I know over a handful of muralists from Desert Hot Springs. Not fair.

~180k in funds from some “public art fund” being given away to artists from outside of Desert Hot Springs most likely will include travel, amenities, supplies and more for each artist. Will the art supplies be bought from an art store in DHS? No. Because they don't have one. Will the artists be supported by locals? Yeah for FREE. Students from Desert Hot Springs will be supporting these installations for experience.

I appreciate art and cities embracing art. Unfortunately, in the past 10 years, Desert Hot Springs has erected a Golden Eagle mural in front of a STILL vacant lot, a whale mural which is now awkwardly placed behind the Burger King, a random dinosaur mural on what was an empty building before Delicias took ownership (and inevitably had to paint over to suit their business—The Desert Sun states that the city will be working with the businesses to make sure waste doesn’t occur…again), the FOREVER EMPTY building on Pierson and Palm of which they have centered a food truck fair around that increases commuting danger as the citizens have to frustratingly find alternative ways down the main streets of the city and countless electrical boxes. Meanwhile the streets are still rampant with mentally unwell citizens who are unhoused, drug addicts using with no harm reduction at the bus stops, pew pew pew being the constant lullaby for citizens, and a continuous lack of local amenities for healthy functioning tax paying citizens. I see your efforts Desert Hot Springs…but y'all can’t just cover up the socio-economic injustices with paint bro. 180k?? For art? Making expensive decisions to increase favor to the new vacation rental homeowners by throwing some paint on it doesn’t change the reality when you actually spend time in the city. But hey – high school students get exploited for experience!!!!

-As an on and off resident of Desert Hot Springs over the years, I feel the town could better spend this money on small business grants or something of the like. Yes, as an artist, I like to see these expressions on the buildings, but the pragmatist in me sees a cycle of putting new paint on the same old buildings as a bandaid to what the town really needs.

-As for DHS, I love that they are bringing new art to the city, but maybe they need to fix the roads first. The city has had multiple children die while walking home from school because of lack of proper roads and sidewalks. Fix that first and then add in art.

-What did they do with all that Cannabis money?

-No amount of murals will ever make me want to go to DHS.  There's nothing of interest there.  No cool coffee shops, no music, no thanks.

Do you know what a RFP is?

Request for Proposal - it's a city's Artist Call for projects 

One artist had some things to say about this after I asked them what a RFP was:

I am not a fan of the rfp process, to me it’s like lottery tickets. My mentor warned me about specifically Indio's process and how much time was wasted entertaining those rfps just for them to pick a non local. Time wise- it takes around 6 months of planning and meetings before the month or two it takes to complete the wall. I can make much more than 50-60k working with my actual community painting for businesses, vacation rentals, hotels, restaurants etc in the time it would take to get approved and complete the mural. That’s why I personally am not interested in ever filling out an rfp again. I tried once and all I could hear was my mentor haha. A much more efficient and effective solution would be to have a group of pre-approved artists with their style and specialties in their profile and hand select each artist for a particular wall instead of making everyone raffle ticket against each other and make new designs for every rfp they make.

So to sum it all up, people had things to say but only a handful made enough time to give me a response.  Thank you to those who did. 

It was suggested if you have something to say about things being done in your community - Show up to City Council Meetings, run for council, be a part of your community.  Get involved.  Or don't.  Write shitty comments on Facebook posts for everyone to see your opinion if that's the level of being involved you want to be.  

Every city has a website and if you want to see how they spend your money, look at their budgets.  It's all public record. 

https://www.indio.org/home/showpublisheddocument/4467/638348611264000000

If you were waiting for my opinion, I love art.  I love cities spending money on art.  I actually like the mural on the Jackson Bridge regardless of who they picked.  It's refreshing to see some new fresh art.  Now, while I'm eating the best enchiladas in the valley (if you don't agree, fucking fight me) I get to look at some color and beautiful designs instead of a dingy colored bridge with trash under it.  

NEW YEAR NEW ME BULLSHIT

 How poetic to start the new year bright and early on a Monday?  I write this blog on the 31st with a fresh perspective and a dalliance of fuck you that just doesn't seem to want to go away. 

I hope as you read through this with old makeup on and shitty breath, you recollect on the good that was 2023 because 2024 came in like a quick but forceful slap to the face like your mother's disappointment with your life decisions. 

I'm starting the week off by going back to work from having a week off and I set up a date for Tuesday with a stranger from the internet- my escape route already planned.  Like the funny comedian just said on Saturday's event I went to, "There are no female serial killers."  We'll see how promising my week becomes. 

I attended CV Brewery's Comedy Night hosted by Dacoda Miracle in Thousand Palms which was to my surprise, funny.  I don't say that to be an asshole but my experience with Amateur Comedians is that it's really hard to watch.  

 

They had 3 comedians do bits and then they had a game show called "That's Not Right" where 3 different comedians answered questions in a gameshow style.  It was probably the best $10 I have spent (ever) and I laughed ALMOST throughout the whole hour and a half of the show.  My favorite comedian of the night was Ryan Stalder and he made me gut laugh.  If you are looking for a simple night out with some laughs, I say check it out CV Brewery's comedy nights,  I wasn't disappointed.

Dear Cunty

 

* Pulled Information from The Desert Sun, City of Indio, City of Desert Hot Springs