A white silhouette of a joshua tree on a photographic background depicting Joshua Tree National Park.
Desert Forest: Life with Joshua Trees
Sep
7
2024
Nov
20
2024
Dec
29
2024

Desert Forest focuses on the plight of the iconic Joshua tree and the vital and sensitive Mojave Desert ecosystem that supports it. The tree’s survival is threatened by climate change as well as development, wind and solar energy industries, and wildfires. In August 2020, a lightning strike ignited a fire that destroyed more than 1.3 million trees, prompting the California Fish and Game Commission to consider granting western Joshua trees protection under the California Endangered Species Act. This multidisciplinary project brings together natural history, Indigenous knowledge, public policy, conservation science, and creative works by historic and contemporary artists to spotlight the threatened tree and preservation efforts around it. From the first known photograph of a Joshua tree by Carleton Watkins to recent photographs by Cara Romero, the exhibition brings attention to the Joshua tree, current pressures on its fragile desert ecosystem, and its future viability.

"The Holes That Can't Be Filled," 2023, Rob Grad. UV ink and acrylic on layered, laser cut wood panels. Courtesy of the artist. ©Rob Grad.

Free

Lancaster Museum of Art and History (MOAH)

665 West Lancaster Boulevard, Lancaster

TUE-WED: 11am-4pm
THU-FRI-11am-8pm
SAT-SUN-11am-4pm
MON-CLOSED

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