The Outdoor Art Phenomenon You Can’t Miss

Transforming the rugged landscape of the Coachella Valley into a mesmerizing outdoor art exhibition, Desert X 2025 is a must-see event on display until May 11, 2025. Using the desert’s stark beauty as a backdrop, visionary artists from around the world explore themes of “indigenous futurism, design activism, and colonial power asymmetries.” Immerse yourself in experiential pieces, giant sculptures, and mind-bending installations, learning the fascinating stories behind each of the artworks. To enjoy all of the installations and the desert setting, it’s best to make a trip out of it. Here’s what to see and where to stay during your time there.

What to See

Now in its fifth year, Desert X is uniquely accessible and inviting for art aficionados and curious travelers alike. All you need is a car, your cell phone to map exactly where each artwork is, and time to explore. Since the majority of installations are relatively remote, the Desert X website provides exact coordinates to help navigate to each artwork.

If you’re arriving in the Coachella Valley at sunset, head to Sanford Biggers’s piece “Unsui (Mirror),” where his two giant sequin cloud sculptures glimmer against the cotton-candy sky as the sun sets. Clouds are a recurring theme in Biggers’ work, symbolizing unencumbered movement and transcendence. Sarah Meyohas’s immersive installation “Truth Arrives in Slanted Beams” utilizes the sun and light-shaping technology to let visitors project words and images as reflections. Kapwani Kiwanga’s “Plotting Rest” is a pavilion-like sculptural structure inspired by the quilting motif known as “flying geese,” which served as guidance for those escaping slavery during the era of the Underground Railroad. Quilts that hung from windows and clotheslines served as coded messages to mitigate danger and find a path to safety. Agnes Denes’s “The Living Pyramid” is “both a monumental sculpture and an environmental intervention.” The structure explores Denes’ lifelong exploration of pyramids merged with nature’s impermanence, using native plants that grow and decay over time.

Where to Stay

Ideally, you’ll want to spread out your Desert X art exploration over a few days to give yourself a leisurely amount of time to drive and absorb the visuals and messaging of each artwork. Located in the heart of Palm Springs, Korakia Pensione is a picturesque property to match your aesthetically enticing trip. What was once the spacious villa of Scottish painter Gordon Coutts is now an adults-only resort with Mediterranean and Moroccan influences. There are 28 uniquely designed bungalows filled with trinkets and décor to give each its own distinct character. Start your day sitting at one of the outdoor tables in their blooming and beautiful courtyard, enjoying breakfast dishes like huevos rancheros or yogurt parfaits with fruit, before you drive to see your first artwork of the day. Once it gets very hot around midday, return to Korakia to lounge by one of their two pools, cooling off with a margarita in hand. For larger groups and families, the newly opened Auric House features six bedrooms and bathrooms and a private pool. A haven for creatives since it first opened, Korakia is a colorful and eclectic oasis to match your art-filled Desert X experience.

Desert X is more than just an art exhibition; it’s an intersection between creativity, humanity and the beauty of nature. Don’t miss your chance to see extraordinary art works set against the harsh, hypnotic beauty of the desert — you’ll have to wait until 2027 to see the next iteration of this one-of-a-kind art experience.