Mural II: Helicopter Apocalypse over Joshua Tree by Anna Stump

Exterior Wall of JTAG
61607 29 Palms Highway Joshua Tree, CA 92252

The MBCAC continues our mission to inspire and enliven the community through the arts by presenting a rotating line up of large temporary murals on the exterior wall of the Joshua Tree Art Gallery. For our second round, we feature Anna Stump, who created a mixed-media reflection on the relationship between the military's presence and the fragile ecosystem in the High Desert.

Anna's current work has developed from her experiences cleaning up a bone yard/trash dump, picking through piles of metal aged by the harsh climate. Through paint, collage and other mixed media works, she explores themes of skyscapes, desert wildlife, jackrabbit homesteads, police/government surveillance, and the general weirdness that is the High Desert. Helicopters have been omnipresent in the artist's life since early childhood, where she grew up on the Mexican American border, amid several military bases in San Diego and Coronado.

For the JTAG mural, Anna imagined a battle between helicopters from the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center and the natural setting of Joshua Tree National Park. And the winner is...

As we reflect and shift with the daily changes and effects of COVID-19, the Morongo Basin Cultural Arts Council is committed to the health and safety of our community. During this time art has the power to connect, uplift and inspire everyone. While many residents are staying at home and reevaluating the new normal, the downtown Joshua Tree commercial strip remains active. We aim to catch the eye of a passersby and shift their current outlook to one of inspiration and intrigue. Stay positive, stay safe and continue to make and appreciate art.

We are accepting submissions for a new mural to be installed, mid-February 2021, mid-May 2021 and mid-August 2021. Please see our call for work for more information. We are happy to continue and adapt this great program started by JTAG founder Frederick Fulmer.

About the artist:

Anna Stump is an artist and arts educator living in Twentynine Palms and Los Angeles. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree at Occidental College and her Master of Fine Arts at San Diego State University. She is currently developing an artist residency and arts center in her new desert home.

Artist website: annastump.com | Instagram @amstump

Interested in being a future mural artist? Check out our call for work!