The mission of the Artists Council was brought home to acting Executive Director David Hatcher during the opening reception for their Young Artist exhibition at The Galen last year. “We were able to get (Palm Desert) Mayor Jan Harnik to come and help us open it. She was thrilled because it was a very diverse crowd of 250 people,” he recalls. “She said, ‘Now I know what this building is for…it’s to bring art of a wider group of people.’”

Nancy Hunt-Weber, the council’s marketing director and a long-time member of its board, concurs that the reception was proof of the viability of the Artists Council’s mission. “One of the things about museums or big galleries is that people who make up the majority of a community tend to stay away because it’s not inclusive. It’s exclusive. Our goal is to be inclusive. We’re constantly working on and developing programs that will be exciting and interesting for everyone. For instance, when you work with young students, you’re reaching their parents as well. They see their kids involved and think, ‘Hey, that might be fun to do.’”

Up until four years ago, the Artists Council was one of nine member organizations associated with the Palm Springs Art Museum. It had helped support the museum and its mission for nearly fifty years, but after the museum decided to disband its councils (the Artists Council was the first to get the ax), the “300 artist members decided they wanted to continue the operation,” says Hatcher. “I got recruited by my lovely wife, who’s on the board as well, to come in and get the 501(c)(3) going.”

Empowered by its new nonprofit status and independence, the council was granted office space at The Galen by the museum, who was still exhibiting in the Palm Desert space, as well as the Faye Sarkowsky Sculpture Garden. Before the pandemic struck, the council put on two very successful exhibitions at just the time the Palm Springs Art Museum was negotiating its way out of its long-term lease with The Galen. The Artists Council saw an opportunity to create a new kind of community-centered art experience for the valley and became the new tenant. They rebranded as the Artists Council’s Artist Center at The Galen. 

Now, with over 500 members, the Artists Council is aggressively pursuing its three-starred agenda. According to Hatcher, that agenda includes “enabling artists through exhibitions…professional developments and education…and community engagement.” Like everyone, the council was challenged by the pandemic, but unlike some organizations who simply closed the doors and turned out the lights, they used their creativity to serve their members and the community by putting on virtual exhibitions. “The key was placing the pieces on the wall,” says Hunt-Weber. “Artists submitted their images and (we) had a whole team who converted it to 3D so that the perspectives and ratios were correct and then placed them on the walls. And then users would navigate through the galleries. It was really something.”

Not long after signing their lease with The Galen last April, the council also hosted their inaugural Community Sunday, where over 300 people from all over the valley attended the center free of charge and engaged in art and performance activities such as a graffiti art experience and dancing to a live band. Their community outreach also included last year’s Young Artist Exhibition, where the council reached out to 17 high schools across the valley (with 12 participating) to encourage students to submit work for the final exhibition. The result was 70 high quality pieces…and a lot of proud kids.

The community engagement has also had the benefit of attracting groups who may not have had the temerity to approach the PS Art Museum for inclusion in the center. Hatcher says they have interest from the Watercolor Society, the Plein Air Society of the Desert, and (rather unexpectedly) the Desert Baroque Music Group. Though the performance space only holds a hundred people, Hatcher says the acoustics were perfectly suited for baroque music. “It was amazing,” he says, “and the Pomona College Choir (a 21-person a capella group) sang with us, and it was really unbelievable…and now we’re talking to the Opera Society as well.”

At its core, the Artists Council is also committed to the creative efforts of its members and the community as a whole. According to Hunt-Weber, the top level of their exhibitions are juried shows with the artwork for sale. A prospectus goes out detailing the medium and the show’s theme. Prospectuses also go out for the next tier which is a show and sale. For this, the artists just need to meet the criteria to be included. Another path to showing (and the possible sale) of one’s art is where member artists pay a small fee to be shown on the council’s website. 

Though the council is still young and nascent in its fundraising efforts (such as bidding to name rooms at the center and donations of works for sale by member artists in December), the nonprofit is healthy due to the generosity of friends like Helen Galen and the strong support of its members. Among the earmarks of success, they will be able to hire a paid executive director this year as well as a paid staff. “It’s exciting,” says Hunt-Weber, “because it allows us to reach our goals more quickly, to reach out even more to the community and get them involved.”