Palm Springs Art Museum
101 N Museum Dr, Palm Springs, CA 92262
Get there with Google Maps by clicking HERE
Date Visited: 10/092022
Although it’s not a hard and fast rule, almost all of my posts are of sites that are free to view. I can only think of one site that actually REQUIRED payment. Some do politely (but, sometimes, firmly) request donations. The Palm Springs Art Museum, located at 101 Museum Drive, Palm Springs, CA 92262 has an admission fee and I am very sure it’s worth every penny. However, the photos that follow were taken outside the museum. I did not go into the museum, so I cannot comment on the contents or displays within the museum.
Marilyn Monroe
This statue Marilyn Monroe, located at the entrance to a courtyard in front of the art museum, is a 25+ foot recreation of the classic scene from “The Seven Year Itch.” Billy Wilder was the director of the movie and scene was considered quite scandalous at the time of the movie release, 1955. (Heck, I wasn’t even born yet, and I’m OLD!).
The footage of Monroe’s dress blowing up over the subway grate was filmed twice. once over the actual grate that blew her skirt up and then a recreation on the sound stage. Both ended up in the finished film, despite the common belief that the audio from the original footage was rendered useless on location by an over-excited crowd during filming in New York.
Marilyn’s then-husband, Joe DiMaggio, was present during the filming of the dress scene and was reportedly upset and disgusted by the attention his wife received from onlookers, reporters and on-set photographers. Wilder had invited the media to raise interest in the film.
According to some research I did, the scene was deemed controversial by a glimpse of Marilyn’s white underwear! OH MY GOSH!!!
So, in the interest of completeness and my fervent desire to present the “complete” story, here’s the reason the scene was so controversial. By today’s standards, seems pretty tame to me! Kudos to the artist, however for an accurate and complete depiction of the event!
Rumor has it that tourists and fans often take pictures from underneath or pose for there own photographs standing between those famous legs looking up! LOL
The uncut/unedited movie is available to rent from Amazon Prime (affiliate link) if you’d like to view it in it’s entirety.
Suspended Car
Also outside the Palm Springs Art Museum is this suspended vehicle above a pool of water?
Artist Gonzalo Lebrija’s “Story of Stopped Time (A Monument to the Impossible)” features a car suspended above a pool of liquid that, according to the museum, appears to freeze over time.
According to the the museum’s chief curator, Public said Rochelle Steiner, Director of Programs and Education. the piece aims to evoke thoughts about “pause and passage of time, focused on precise moments of stillness and impact.”
Palm Springs Babies
Well, I’ve saved the best (creepiest?) for last. Also located outside the Palm Springs Museum is this installation.
The “Babies” by artist David Cerny are reportedly a temporary installation on loan from the artist to the museum. The Babies are situated in what apparently is the future site of a residential structure. According to research, the residential building should begin construction soon (2022/2023 according to what I read).
There are 10 Babies in all, each 11′ in length. The faces of each baby is apparently a barcode! Quite frankly, seems pretty odd to me, but it’s apparently a very famous and well-traveled installation.
I highly recommend checking out the PalmSpringsBabies.com webpage for lots of additional information and a video detailing the delivery and placement of the Babies. The page does a lot better job than I could ever do. And, besides, plagairism is not my style!
As always, THANK YOU for the visit. I welcome and appreciate comments (at the bottom of every page/post) and/or EMAILS. Please feel free to SUBSCRIBE (free or voluntary donation) to this site. If you enjoyed your visit, learned anything, or feel like helping the site out a little, I would love it if you shared our site with friends and family. If you don’t like this site ***GASP*** then you should spam your enemies with it LOL. Hey, any traffic helps! You can also DONATE to keep this dream alive. I always give 50% of all (net) donations and (net) profits from any source to charity as my way of giving thanks and sharing my good fortune.
Thanks again!
Joe
Hello sir, I met you yesterday at Walmart. We were getting are cars service. It was a great pleasure meeting you, our conversation about going around the states was a positive eye opener for me. I thank you for the conversation and the great many exhibits you have shown me.
I really enjoyed our conversation also.Thank you for taking a look at the website and the comment Talking about being on the road and the places I’ve been makes me want to go more places and post more here on the site.
Joe