Public Art Film Series Screens Set for Thursday

Desert residents suffering from film withdrawal since the Palm Springs International Film Festival wrapped up can attend an art documentary series starting tomorrow in Palm Desert.

The Palm Desert Public Art Documentary Film Series, which is free to the public, will showcase four films in the auditorium at UCR Palm Desert All films will be shown at 6 p.m. on the third Thursday of the month, through April. A speaker will discuss each film, Palm Desert spokesman David Hermann said.

The lineup is:

• Jan. 17, "The Lost Bird Project." Sculptor Todd McGrain created memorials to extinct American birds, including the great auk, Carolina parakeet and passenger pigeon, at the location of each bird's demise. The film will be followed by a question-and-answer session with film co-producer and cinematographer, Scott Anger.
• Feb. 21, "Downside Up." With 80 percent of downtown buildings closed in North Adams, Mass., blue-collar locals joined with prominent members of the art world to turn the town into the country's largest center for contemporary art. Bill Schinsky, founder and director of the Coachella Valley Art Center, will be the featured speaker.
• March 21, "Waste Land." The film, made over three years, follows artist Vik Muniz from Brooklyn to his native Brazil and the world's largest garbage dump in Rio de Janeiro. There, he photographs and collaborates with "catadores," who collect recyclable materials. Featured speakers will be Karen Riley, S.C.R.A.P. Gallery executive director, and Lisa Soccio, director of the Walter N. Marks Center for the Arts and assistant professor of art history at College of the Desert.
• April 18, "Maynard Dixon: Art and Spirit." The film features interviews with Dixon's family, friends and members of the art community. The film includes more than 400 Dixon paintings and drawings, portraits of Dixon, family photographs and rare audio by his second wife, photographer Dorothea Lange. Dixon's work focused on the American west. Jayne McKay, the film's writer, producer and director, is the featured speaker. The film is being shown in conjunction with Desertscapes, a valley-wide art festival.

Reservations are recommended for the films. For information and reservations, call (760) 837-1663 or go to the UCR Palm Desert campus website.