THE ARTISTS BEHIND THE WALLS
Artists
The numbered Oasis of Murals collection brought together local artists and visiting muralists from across the United States, Canada, and Japan. Some created a single work; others returned again and again as the outdoor gallery grew.
M13 · M18 · M22 · M25 · M26
Art Mortimer
Flash Flood; Boys Basketball Tournament; Battle of the Bell; Keys’ Desert Queen Ranch; and, with Chuck Caplinger, the CDPA 20th Anniversary mural.
M06 · M09 · M19
Tim O’Connor
The Flying Constable Jack Cones; Johnnie Hastie & The 29 Palms Stage; Good Times at Smith’s Ranch.
Beyond the numbered series: O’Connor also painted the later TPHS STEM mural documented in this Legacy Project, illustrating how the story of public art in Twentynine Palms continued beyond M1–M26.
M05 · M14 · M26
Chuck Caplinger
Desert Storm Homecoming & Victory Parade; Desert Wildlife; and, with Art Mortimer, CDPA 20th Anniversary.
M08 · M17
Richard Wyatt
William & Elizabeth Campbell; The Sun Rises.
M04 · M21
Larry & Nancy Cherry Eifert
Neighbors in Nature I and its 2006 successor, Neighbors in Nature II.
M03 · M20
Don Gray
Dr. James B. Luckie and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
M01
Dan & Peter Sawatzky
Bill & Frances Keys — the first numbered Oasis mural.
M10
Dan & Janis Sawatzky
Frank & Helen Bagley and The Bagley Store.
M07 · M12
John Whytock
The Dirty Sock Camp; and, with Terry Waite, Desert Gold Mining Days.
M02
Ron Croci & Robert Caughlan III
Early Life at the Oasis of Mara.
M11
Susan Smith Evans
Bill & Prudie Underhill and The Desert Trail.
M12
Terry Waite
Desert Gold Mining Days, created with John Whytock.
M15
Dan Kelly
Desert Wildflowers.
M16
John Pugh
Valentine’s Day, a trompe l’oeil mural.
M23
Makoto Hashigami
Spirit of Mara.
M24
Cristian S. Aluas
29 Palms Skateboard Park.
The artist archive is growing
Future additions will include fuller biographies, photographs, interviews, working methods, restoration history, and connections between the artists and Twentynine Palms. Only details supported by project records will be presented as documented fact.