Create Center for the Arts Using Grant to Enhance Programs

January 28, 2022

Create Center for the Arts Using Grant to Enhance Programs

CREATE Center for the Arts continues to expand its educational and workshop space in Palm Desert, and now a $25,000 grant will allow the organization to fulfill more of its goals as the premier art center in the area. The grant from the H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation is the first Coachella Valley Spotlight award presented in 2022, as the partnership with News Channel 3 now enters its 14th year.

“We’re here to help people connect to their creative sides,” said Debra Mumm, Executive Director for CREATE Center for the Arts. “With support, like this from the Berger Foundation, we’re able to provide even more equipment and enhanced spaces that can help people’s artistic visions become realities.”

CREATE plans to invest a portion of the grant funds into equipping the various studio spaces with university-level, artist-quality tools and supplies that would otherwise remain inaccessible to the public. The nonprofit organization will also renovate part of its 20,000 square-foot facility into the only public photography darkroom in the Coachella Valley, as well as expanding its spaces for printmaking and painting. CREATE also offers a variety of art equipment and classes in drawing, fiber arts, digital design, 3D modeling, gardening, performing arts, video production and more.

“CREATE Center for the Arts is doing exactly what its name implies,” said Catharine Reed, Vice President of Charitable Programs for the H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation. “The organization has developed an inspiring one-of-a-kind environment that promotes innovation and creativity.”

“CREATE has designed a space that provides artists with opportunities to network with like-minded individuals and share their creations through community exhibitions, performances and events,” said Jerry Upham, General Manager of Gulf California Broadcast Company, which owns and operates KESQ News Channel 3 and KPSP CBS Local 2.

CREATE will hold its first-ever fundraising event, The Blind Pig Experience, scheduled for April 8, 2022. The event was inspired by a special donation of walls from Club 139, a former speakeasy in Cathedral City, which are autographed by visitors, including Cole Porter, George Burns and Humphrey Bogart. The walls were donated by the family of Carlo Wahlbeck, an artist who resided in Palm Springs for the past 40 years, and will now become part of CREATE’S permanent installation.

Through the Coachella Valley Spotlight partnership with the H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation and News Channel 3, CREATE Center for the Arts was featured on News Channel 3 programming, in public service announcements and on kesq.com throughout January. CREATE Center for the Arts is located at 73600 Alessandro Drive, Palm Desert. For information about classes and more, visit www.createcentercv.org or call 760-834-8318.