A collaborative effort from one class (left) and an individual effort will be headed to city utility boxes for public display as vinyl wraps.
The Palm Desert Arts committee Voted Wednesday to recognize two student artists from the 2026 Student Art and Essay Contest with public displays on city utility cabinets, while also beginning the selection process for the 2027–2028 El Paseo Sculpture Exhibition.
One selection is a class mural created by students in Miss Whittemore's first-grade class, which will be installed at a utility cabinet near Country Club Drive and Oasis Club Drive/Tamarisk Row. The second is an individual work by third-grader Vincent Snelson, which will be displayed at Fred Waring Drive and Phyllis Jackson Lane.
The committee voted 5–1 to approve two student vinyl wraps from the Palm Desert Learning Tree Center, overriding a staff recommendation to only install the collaborative class mural. The cost to produce and install the vinyl wraps will not exceed $6,000 and is funded through the city's approved Public Art budget for the current fiscal year.
One committee member noted that approving both works now will reduce the number of available cabinet locations for future student art contests, and staff said they would confirm the exact number of cabinets in an upcoming citywide vinyl wrap refresh before the next contest cycle.
That refresh, approved at a prior meeting, will update more than 15 existing utility cabinet wraps across the city and add new cabinets in North Palm Desert in the next fiscal year.
Now in its 39th year, the Student Art and Essay Contest drew 65 individual works and 11 class murals on the theme "What Grows in My Dream Garden." The artwork and essays are currently on display at UCR Building B and will remain through March 27.
The committee also turned its attention to the 2027–2028 El Paseo Sculpture Exhibition, beginning a first-round review of 119 eligible sculpture proposals drawn from 178 total submissions by 168 applicants. Members conducted a yes/no digital vote on each eligible work.
Staff noted that this year's submissions lacked variety in form, which could present challenges in assembling a visually dynamic exhibition.
"Most of the artwork is — I won't say one shape, but very similar shapes," a staff member said. "We didn't get a whole lot of variance this year."
The committee must select works for 17 standard pads and one oversized 8-by-25-foot pad, plus up to six alternates. Staff said only one artist submitted a piece specifically designed for the oversized pad and that the committee would need to address that location separately.
A second round of curation discussions focused on size, color and shape diversity is planned for a subsequent session.