The Rancho Mirage Festival of the Arts is hosted annually at the Rancho Mirage Community Park and Amphitheater. This boutique event puts emphasis on experimentation and exceptional craftsmanship, bringing museum-quality artwork outdoors. Annually visitors can experience the latest work of handpicked artists, complemented by music, food, and art demonstrations. Whether it’s the art exhibitions, the live music performed on stage, the high-quality food and beverage vendors, interactive art performances, or the nightly events, there is certainly something for everyone. Two days of artistic exploration in a beautiful outdoor setting — and it’s free! See more information about each aspect of the festival below.
2023 Festival of the Arts
November 4 & 5, 2023
Rancho Mirage Community Park & Amphitheater
71560 San Jacinto Drive, Rancho Mirage
Artists:
The Festival of the Arts includes a sophisticated showcase of handpicked exhibiting artists who represent various artistic genres, including glass, ceramics, textiles, photography, painting, sculpture, and digital. The festival is invitation only, and exhibiting artists are limited in the number of art installations they can display, furthering the event’s objective of providing quality and enrichment. This event provides an unmatched opportunity to meet the creators and learn the stories behind their ideas. In addition to exhibiting artists, there are installation artists who install art pieces throughout the park, interactive artists who are creating art in real time, and other forms of live artistic expression. Each year a new roster of artists is announced. 2022 included 33 exhibiting artists and four interactive artists. In 2023 we are looking at 36 exhibiting artists and four interactive and installation artists. The festival’s commission and curator are looking for unique artists who are not a part of the festival circuit, but rather gallery and studio artists. If you feel you meet this criteria, please email RMFestivaloftheArts@ranchomirageca.gov to be considered for future years. Information regarding this year’s exhibiting artists’ is provided in the box below.
Featured Artists:
Each year the festival has a featured artist who receives many special perks, including city curated promotional videos, magazine covers, advertisements, social media promotion, a double sized tent at the festival, and is permitted additional art pieces for display. The featured artist is selected each year from the previous year’s Commissioner Award. Video examples of previously featured artists are below.
Commissioner Award:
The Rancho Mirage Festival of the Arts is carefully constructed by city staff and the city’s Parks and Trails Commission. Each year the Commissioners on the Parks and Trails Commission review the various displays of all the exhibiting artists and select their favorite exhibit. Once the Commission comes to an agreement on their selection, that artist is notified of their award, and with it, they receive an invitation to rejoin the festival for the next year and become a featured artist for the following season.
Last year’s winner of the Commissioner’s Award was Blake Warner.
Blake Warner’s appreciation of the natural environment was a motivational factor in choosing her design career both in landscape and in glass. As an artist and licensed landscape architect, she brings her design skill, passion and experience to the kiln glass studio. In 2018 she had the opportunity to see the fused glasswork of a local artist which inspired her to shift her professional practice from landscape architecture to kiln formed glass. She has studied at the Corning Museum of Glass Studio and Bullseye Glass Resource Centers to develop the technical skills necessary to create unique sculptural pieces inspired by the natural environment. Blake incorporates the colors and patterns of place into her kiln formed and kiln cast work to capture the beauty of light and form.
Mayor’s Award:
Each year, like the Commissioner Award, the Mayor of the City of Rancho Mirage tours the various exhibiting artists’ tents and selects their favorite art piece. Once the Mayor has selected their winning piece, the corresponding artist receives a $5,000 commission to create an art piece for a nonprofit organization, which is selected by the Mayor. Last year’s featured artist, Tim Shockley, won the Mayor’s award. Tim’s commission piece was for the Children’s Discovery Museum of the Desert.
Tim Shockley is a contemporary sculptor living and working in Southern California’s Coachella Valley. A native to the region, Shockley’s art practice is directly inspired by his surrounding desert environment. The artist creates meticulously detailed works that bring forth a sense of Organic Surrealism combining natural elements into dream-like juxtapositions and structural hybrids. Shockley is a master of craftsmanship in a variety of media including; wood, metal and mixed-media assemblage. His diverse range of sculptural skills allows Shockley to execute his artistic visions into lucid realities.
Musicians:
Musical exploration is also a highlight of the festival with a plethora of performances both days. An example of a daytime music schedule from the 2022 festival is pictured below.
The 2023 music schedule is coming soon!
Jazz Under the Stars:
The daytime music is accompanied by night performances with the festival’s Jazz Under the Stars. As the sun sets and night falls, the sound of toe-tapping tunes that will get you up and moving on the dance floor start ringing from the adjacent Rancho Mirage Amphitheater.
This year, we welcome Maria de la Vega and the Wayward Five to the amphitheater stage.
Food Vendors:
The city partners with its local businesses in providing high quality food and beverage services during the day and night events. A list of providers from last year’s festival is below.
Event Layout:
Contact Information :
RMFestivaloftheArts@ranchomirageca.gov or Event Manager at 760.324.4511 ext. 228
