BEYOND THE NUMBERED SERIES
Other Murals & Public Art
The 26 numbered Oasis murals are the core historical collection, but they inspired a broader public-art landscape across Twentynine Palms. This section keeps those later and separate works visible without folding them into the official M1–M26 sequence.
A USEFUL DISTINCTION
Oasis mural ≠ every mural in town
The 2021 program brochure distinguishes the historical murals commissioned by Action Council for 29 Palms from other public art. The City established its Art in Public Places program in 2004, and additional murals, sculpture, exhibitions, and streetscape art continued to grow.
The same city. The same creative spirit. Different commissioning histories.
RELATED / LATER MURAL
Twentynine Palms High School STEM Mural
Artist: Tim O’Connor · Location: Twentynine Palms High School
The large TPHS / STEM mural is part of the school’s visual landscape and was painted by local artist Tim O’Connor, who also created several official Oasis murals. Current project research has not documented the STEM work as a numbered or officially commissioned Oasis of Murals mural, so it is preserved here as related public art rather than assigned an M-number.
Research still open: exact completion date, sponsor or commissioning body, and whether Oasis status was ever formally discussed.
RELATED / LATER MURALS
Smoketree Building Wildlife Murals
Artist: Chuck Caplinger · Location: 72252 29 Palms Hwy. (Smoketree Building)
After the official M14 Desert Wildlife mural was removed in 2007, Caplinger created two later 60-foot wildlife murals on the same building. The 2021 brochure names the works Dipsosaurus dorsalis and Grococcyx californianus and describes a giant lizard on one wall and a roadrunner with a lizard in its mouth on the other.
Source discrepancy preserved: the brochure text and its numbered index do not line up perfectly on which Latin title belongs to which wall. The Legacy Project records both titles without silently choosing between the conflicting labels.
OFFICIAL OASIS SCULPTURE
Sky Climbers
Artist: Steve Rieman · Location: Old Schoolhouse Museum, 6760 National Park Drive · Dedicated: May 2, 1999
The 2021 Oasis brochure identifies Sky Climbers as Sculpture #1: three copper-and-steel panels, each 5 × 11 feet, created as a tribute to the climbers who have long explored the monzonite formations of Joshua Tree National Park.
Research note: The brochure documents Steve Rieman of Yucca Valley as the artist and places the sculpture at the Old Schoolhouse Museum. Unlike the M01–M26 sequence, this work is cataloged separately as Sculpture #1. The brochure’s descriptive entry gives the Old Schoolhouse Museum address as 6760 National Park Drive, while its public-art index gives 6360. Current Visit 29 Palms listings identify the Old Schoolhouse Museum at 6760 National Park Drive, so the project treats 6760 as the current verified address while preserving the brochure’s 6360 index entry as a historical source discrepancy.
PUBLIC ART / DOWNTOWN LANDMARK
Bucklin Park & Steve Rieman Sculpture
Location: 29 Palms Hwy. at Desert Queen Ave. · Dedicated: January 12, 2008
The 2021 brochure describes Bucklin Park as a joint Action 29 Palms and City beautification project named for Gerald S. “Bucky” Bucklin, a mural volunteer, retired U.S. Marine, and retired San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputy. The downtown plaza sits beside M21, Neighbors in Nature II, and features a 15-foot-tall steel sculpture by Steve Rieman of Yucca Valley.
Research note: The brochure records the January 12, 2008 dedication and identifies the Rieman sculpture as a centerpiece of the park.
PUBLIC ART / CITY ICON
The “29!” Sculpture
Designer: Chuck Caplinger · Fabricator: Moe Pegorelli · Location: 29 Palms Hwy. at Bullion Ave. · Dedicated: May 2009
Chuck Caplinger designed the giant steel “29!” that greets motorists entering downtown. The brochure credits Moe Pegorelli with fabrication, says the City installed the work, and records that the Public Arts Advisory Committee held its ribbon cutting and dedication in May 2009.
Research note: The 2021 brochure catalogs this work as public-art item #7, separate from the official M01–M26 mural sequence.
PUBLIC ART / COMMUNITY HISTORY
Ed Kenney Mural
Artist: Tim O’Connor · Location: Morongo Basin Community Health Center, 6380 Split Rock Ave. · Dedicated: May 14, 2021
The mural preserves the story of Kenney’s Drug Store, a longtime downtown business associated with Edward J. Kenney and later pharmacist Albert Beller. The 2021 brochure records that the store served the community until November 1995 and notes Kenney’s wider civic role, including work connected with Blessed Sacrament Church and Hi-Desert Medical Center.
Research note: The brochure identifies this as public-art item #42 and notes a family connection between artist Tim O’Connor and the Beller family through O’Connor’s late wife, Pam Beller.
PUBLIC ART / COMMUNITY PORTRAIT
Celebrating Women
Artist: Glenn Case · Location: west wall of 29 Palms Thrift, 73911 29 Palms Hwy. · Created: 2020
This mural honors three generations of Twentynine Palms women: Mary Stengel Nicoll, her daughter Mary Jane Binge, and Mary Jane’s daughters Erica Clarkson and Debbie Mayo. The brochure says Mary Nicoll and Mary Jane Binge arrived in 1949 and, between them, spent more than 70 years building businesses and serving the community.
Research note: The 2021 brochure catalogs this mural as public-art item #41, separate from the official numbered Oasis mural sequence.
PUBLIC ART / HISTORIC PLAZA
Chain of Life
Artist: Steve Rieman · Location: Historic Plaza center median, Two Mile Road at Adobe Road · Installed: 2009
The brochure identifies Chain of Life as a sculpture of an olla spilling water into the Historic Plaza median—a contemporary public-art piece that echoes the life-giving water imagery found throughout the Oasis of Mara story.
Research note: The 2021 brochure catalogs this work as public-art item #28.
PUBLIC ART / NATIONAL PARK DRIVE
Desert Sculptures Along National Park Drive
Beginning in 2013, the brochure records a growing group of metal sculptures along National Park Drive, including Ricardo Breceda’s ram, Big Horn sheep, gold prospector and pack mule, and later Pioneer Women sculptures at the Old Schoolhouse Museum. It also records Simi Dabah works along the corridor, including the Michael Swigart Memorial and abstract steel pieces.
Research note: The brochure groups these works under public-art items #35 and #36, preserving them as a later City public-art layer rather than part of the official Oasis mural numbering.
This collection will expand
Sculptures, later murals, City public art, and other works will be added as their creators, dates, locations, sponsors, and relationship to the Oasis program are documented.