FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 3, 2017
Contact: Jacqueline Guevara, Director of Education & Public Engagement, Mojave Desert Land Trust 
Phone: 760-366-5440 x 226 
jacqueline@mdlt.org

Mojave Desert Land Trust Launches “Reading the Landscape” Guidelines for Artists at Joshua Treenial

Joshua Tree, CA – This weekend, the Mojave Desert Land Trust (MDLT) partnered with the Joshua Treenial to launch Reading the Landscape, a set of guidelines to help artists make informed decisions about engaging with desert lands and their delicate ecosystems. The tips served as a resource to advise artists throughout their creative processes and ensure that each step is done in a way that will preserve the landscapes for future generations.

This year’s Joshua Treenial, its second iteration since the first festival in 2015, was weekend of art, installations, and performances highlighting the artistic inspiration drawn from the desert lands. According to MDLT’s Executive Director Danielle Segura, the organization partnered with the Joshua Treenial because its founders have served as leaders in the movement to create more ecosystem-conscious art in the desert.

“Desert conservation is important to me because of the role it plays in the bigger picture,” explained Joshua Treenial co-founder Bernard Leibov. “Artists coming to the desert want to do the right thing, but they don’t always know what the wrong thing is. Reading the Landscape is a very complete list of resources.”

As part of the program, MDLT offered trained volunteer guides to the artists to help guide them through the process of “reading the landscape” by identifying nearby burrows and sensitive area flora. The organization conducted its first site visit with Gregory Michael Hernandez, a Joshua Treenial artist.

“In the end, I think I’ve come up with something that is least invasive,” Hernandez said of his installation Decalogue Chapel: The Ten Commandments Re-contextualized. “Every artist who goes out in the landscape should have this chance.”

On Friday, MDLT handed out packets to participating artists with Reading the Landscape materials, including welcome letters, maps, and Reading the Landscape cards with tips for ecosystem-conscious site management before, during, and after the weekend’s festivities. MDLT also created an accompanying webpage for its Reading the Landscape resources, including additional information about desert safety for first-time visitors.

“We should be as thoughtful to the land and its many residents as we are to our artistic creations,” commented Rebecca Lowry, Lead Artist at JT Lab, an initiative that explores the ways in which artists can contribute to the National Parks. “We are going to use [Reading the Landscape] to construct a conversation about the desert.”

The Mojave Desert Land Trust (MDLT) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with the mission to protect and care for lands with natural, scenic, and cultural value within the Mojave Desert. For more information, visit www.mdlt.org