Palm Springs Art Museum

Palm Springs Art Museum’s Youth Impact Initiative is a bold commitment to making the museum a vital part of life for young people in the Coachella Valley. It connects children, teens, and young adults to meaningful arts programming at every stage of their development. The initiative cultivates creativity, builds community, and expands opportunity.

A cornerstone of the initiative is Family+, a monthly free program that welcomes families from across the region to engage with the museum through hands-on arts experiences. Designed to build relationships with youth by connecting first with their families, Family+ creates a welcoming space for multi-generational learning and cultural exchange.

Held on the third Sunday of each month, Family+ transforms the museum into a vibrant hub of activity with art workshops, live music, and refreshments. Activities are led by local and regional artists and often connect to current exhibitions, encouraging deeper engagement with the artwork on view.

Educational resources, including bilingual English and Spanish materials, support visitors of all ages as they explore the museum. These include:

· Gallery Bingo, a playful scavenger hunt that helps families with young children connect with artworks throughout the museum

· Exhibition Workbooks, which guide children through exhibitions while encouraging observation, imagination, and critical thinking

· Artwork of the Month postcards, which offer take-home learning connected to pieces from the museum’s permanent collection

Family+ offers a unique, high-impact experience that fosters creativity, nurtures early art appreciation, and builds the foundation for lifelong engagement. As part of the broader Youth Impact Initiative, it reflects the museum’s commitment to accessible, inclusive, and culturally responsive programming for all families across the Coachella Valley and our region.

Contact: MarJon Hudson Interim Director of Development

Email: mhudson@psmuseum.org

The signature component of Palm Springs Art Museum’s education program is Art Within Reach, which provides an authentic arts education experience that fulfills California state-mandated arts programs for 3rd grade students. Art Within Reach introduces inter- and cross-disciplinary connections between art, science and math, promoting students’ abilities to solve problems, analyze knowledge, generate insights, synthesize new relationships among ideas, and make meaningful connections across subjects.

The field trip to the museum includes a docent-led gallery tour and participation in an art project. This program also instills in students a level of comfort with Palm Springs Art Museum as a friendly place in which to see and experience art and engage in self-discovery.

Participants include 3rd grade students at four Desert Sands USD Title 1 schools: John F. Kennedy, Carrillo Ranch, Lyndon B. Johnson, and James Madison.

Eyes On/Hands On is a two hour field trip program designed to inspire and cultivate art appreciation in elementary-aged students from across the Coachella Valley. Each theme-driven museum tour and accompanying art lesson investigate the Elements of Art and Principles of Design using the museum’s permanent collection and temporary traveling exhibitions, and is informed by the California Visual Arts Content Standards.

Accessibility to art education is a crucial component to a well-rounded education that allows children to explore their creativity during interactive process-based learning experiences. It has also been shown to encourage critical thinking and interpersonal learning through artwork interpretation. Art Education is a tool that can have a profound impact in the classroom and beyond, but is often neglected due to limited time and resources.

The Eyes On/Hands On program offers a unique field trip experience that addresses this need for exposure to art education and with a concentrated effort to reach out to underserved schools, the program seeks to foster inclusiveness for all communities.