Palm Springs Art Museum Institutional Archives Collection
Finding aid created by Palm Springs Art Museum staff using RecordEXPRESS
Palm Springs Art Museum
2024
101 Museum Dr.
Palm Springs, California 92263
http://www.psmuseum.org/
Title: Palm Springs Art Museum Institutional Archives Collection
Dates: 1938 to date
Collection Number: PSAM-1
Creator/Collector:
Palm Springs Art Museum;
Palm Springs Desert Museum
Extent: Approximately 150 linear feet
Repository:
Palm Springs Art Museum
Palm Springs, California 92263
Abstract: Palm Springs Art Museum was founded in 1938 as the Palm Springs Desert Museum, specializing in Native American artifacts,
the natural sciences, and the environment of the surrounding Coachella Valley.
The museum moved several times within the downtown Palm Springs area before building its first permanent structure in 1958,
located on the southwest corner of Tahquitz-McCallum Way and Indian Ave.
In 1974, architect E. Stewart Williams was commissioned to design the current building on Museum Drive. Further growth resulted
in the construction of the Doris and Walter N. Marks Administration Building, Buddy Rogers Box Office, and the 1996 completion
of the Steve Chase Wing and the Education Center.
In April 2004, the Board of Trustees of the Palm Springs Desert Museum instructed the director and staff to shift the museum's
focus from a multi-disciplinary museum to a world-class art museum with a performing arts program. One year later, in April
2005, the museum officially changed its name to the Palm Springs Art Museum to reflect its emphasis on the visual and performing
arts.
Language of Material: English
The collection is open to qualified researchers by appointment only
No interpretive restriction is placed on material. Separate permissions to be obtained for publishing material. Property
rights to the physical object belong to the Palm Springs Art Museum. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by
the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue
the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where Palm Springs Art Museum does not hold the copyright.
[Identification of item]. Palm Springs Art Museum Institutional Archives Collection. Collection Number: PSAM-1. Palm Springs
Art Museum
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection represents a broad selection of materials documenting the activities, events and history of the Palm Springs
Desert Museum, later renamed the Palms Springs Art Museum. The collection includes administrative records, documents, correspondence,
photographs, scrapbooks, architectural drawings, awards, exhibition catalogs, annual reports, newsletters, ephemera, and other
materials dating from 1938 to date. A detailed spreadsheet is available to aid in identifying resources. There are eight series
in the collection.
Williams, E. Stewart (1909-2005)
Palm Springs Art Museum - Archives
Palm Springs Desert Museum - Archives
Palm Springs, California