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The recent grant helped the nonprofit with the 2025 Mobius Conference, an annual event held in April, which unites intrepid thought leaders, performers, artists, and pacesetters. With its aim to celebrate the vitality and creativity that exists in the Valley, the conference acts as a vital resource for like-minded souls to connect in a productive and impactful way.

“We couldn’t create the conference programming in an empowering and relevant way if it weren’t for something like The CIELO Fund,” said Tizoc DeAztlan, Executive Director of The Codex Creation Committee. “We create educational programming for students and bring different speakers in front of them to help engage students and get them to learn from one another.”

“The level of what we’re able to produce is not possible if it weren’t for that fund recognizing the needs in our community and making a real direct impact,” he added.

The Mobius Conference uses several key sites throughout the Coachella Valley with varied engagement formats. It rallies a select group of talented students, educators, leaders, and activists striving to positively affect the collective community.

“It’s a unique arts, culture, and politics conference,” DeAztlan said. “The whole purpose is to widen the tent of people having discussions so that folks aren’t having them in silos. We want diverse perspectives; folks from different sectors coming together to meet with students, to share their stories, to discuss problems that are relevant to people here in the Coachella Valley.”

The conference also attracts key speakers who pique student interest.

“This year, we had programs that were dedicated to health and wellness,” DeAztlan said. “We had a program that was dedicated to the performing arts. We had a program that was dedicated to leadership. We had a program that was geared to astronomy, and the Salton Sea, and more science-based.”

“We want to let students know that regardless of what field they are interested in, that there’s always a way to be engaged in your community,” DeAztlan said, “and that there’s always a way to scratch that itch of intellectual curiosity.”

The conference intrigues on a number of levels. One of the programs, “Leadership Sessions,” for instance, was designed to inform individuals how to move confidently forward together. 

Another standout program took place on the grounds of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Codex brought in 100 dance students from throughout the Coachella Valley. They met with entertainment producers AEG Worldwide and Golden Voice team members to discuss career opportunities. 

“The students were able to go into the Yuma Tent to learn choreography from an L.A. choreographer who does big work,” DeAztlan said. “It was a chance to learn from experts but also an opportunity to dance with, celebrate with, and enjoy community with other dancing members throughout the Coachella Valley.”

“We took great pride in bringing those experts and leaders throughout our country to the Coachella Valley to meet with our students,” he added.

While the conference has been running for seven years, the Codex Creation Committee was established approximately 18 months ago. Its dedication to creating a brighter future is key, and it does so, mainly by developing inclusive, thoughtful, and multicultural coding practices. 

DeAztlan also noted that the nonprofit’s main goal is to empower communities through the creation of educational opportunities in a diverse array of mediums—from art, culture, and health to wellness, technology, and entertainment.

However, other initiatives stand out within Codex, particularly Run with Los Muertos. 

The annual event, which unfolds in November, brings together a bevy of runners, artists, teams, groups, musicians, and thousands of attendees throughout the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to celebrate art, wellness, music, and culture.

“The event encompasses a 5K race, a car show, an art show, and art walk, and more,” DeAztlan said. “We have a procession that brings together 20 student organizations to perform. We have multiple stages of entertainment. It just turned into a big block party.”

He said about 7,000 people attended last year. 

“We’d certainly love to have folks support us and join in our efforts,” DeAztlan noted of the road ahead. “We’re trying to create a community where intellectual curiosity is celebrated and where people can find opportunities. And especially for students to find opportunities that help them excel.”

“We want to empower them to look forward to their futures,” he added.

Learn more at codexcreation.com.

This story originally appeared in the Desert Sun, June 2025.

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TFT’s “Singing in the Rain” gala, which takes place on Feb. 24 at Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa Rancho Mirage, will honor KESQ’s chief meteorologist Patrick Evans. The event is directed by local favorite, actress/author Joyce Bulifant and emceed by KESQ’s Karen Devine. TFT’s own theatre troupe and other guest performers are on the ticket.

Funds raised go to the nonprofit’s free after-school programs, which service children ages 7 to 11 in several school districts.

“The arts really have the power to transform a child’s life,” said Andrea Hecht TFT’s Executive Director. “And with everything that’s happening, it also is a way of healing. It helps with mental health; processing feelings and emotions and dealing with the challenges that we’re having.

“But it also gives children the opportunity to try new things,” she added.

Founded in 1989, TFT has served more than 21,000 children in the Coachella Valley. More than 90 percent of TFT students are socioeconomically disadvantaged, Hecht noted, and 83 percent are Hispanic or Latino. About 35 percent are English learners while 11 percent have disabilities.

Six percent are homeless.

During the 2023-2024 school year, TFT served more than 1200 students in 27 schools. That includes 15 schools in PSUSD and 12 schools in Desert Sands Unified School District. Also on the nonprofit’s long list of services is a summer program at the Boys & Girls Club in Cathedral City.  

Hecht added that TFT plans to reach more than 1200 students this year.

To be sure, the upcoming gala is a stellar opportunity for the nonprofit to not only honor a local agent of change but also expand its own reach in the Valley. A recent grant from the Inland Empire Community Foundation (IECF) through the FitzDell Gifting Fund will assist on that front.

“Our recent grant will help us build up our art supplies and books specifically,” Hecht said. “We’re starting to integrate more books into our curriculum. A lot of the students in third, fourth, and fifth grade were just starting their education when the pandemic hit.

These were critical years for reading instruction.

“We used books to introduce artists or music, musicians, or learn more about historical characters or even maybe about space,” she noted. “Big books helped facilitate wonder, curiosity, and interest. Then we pair the books with hands-on art projects and encourage the kids to become better readers and lifelong learners, really; to learn something about a person or a subject and then use hands-on creativity.”

This aligns with TFT’s programs, which promote critical thinking skills, social-emotional development and a creative thought process through meaningful, multi-sensory artistic opportunities. 

In addition to the upcoming gala and the grant funding, TFT and La Quinta Art Celebration have partnered on a book project for students. The collaboration will raise funds for children’s literature books for students throughout the Valley to read in TFT’s Creative Clubs, or create related art and music projects, then take the books home to share with their siblings and family.

“I grew up in a very creative family,” Hecht said. “My mom was an art teacher, my dad a scientist and engineer. I always had the arts when I was a child. I grew up in the ’70s and ’80s and in elementary school, we had art and music in the classroom. It didn’t really occur to me that kids wouldn’t have art in the classroom; that it wouldn’t be a part of their regular curriculum until my kids started school and moved to the Valley.

“Being able to provide these kinds of creative experiences that share culture and give kids a way to be successful in the classroom, a safe place to explore, and take creative risks is incredibly important,” she added.

Learn more at toolsfortomorrow.org.

This article originally appeared in the Desert Sun, February 2025

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The artist with portraits of homeless people: “Shashus 2” and “Mario the Poet”

A recent gathering at Desert Art Woman Gallery in Cathedral City proved to be more than just the dynamic art on display. Thanks to a Creative Corps Inland SoCal Grant, local artist Emmanuel Doublin was able to turn the experience into an opportunity to help homeless individuals.

“I wanted to create an event where I could get all kinds of donations for the homeless,” Doublin says of the outing, which featured his art as well as other artists’. “We received important items like deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, socks, and I just donated all the money I received from my art for homelessness resources.”

Doublin would go on to purchase tents, hats, and umbrellas, key items to offset summertime heat.

“I’ll be back out in the community in the next week,” he adds, “tracking down some of the homeless and giving them these items, along with water bottles, socks, and shoes. The grant allowed me to create the event and give back.”

Doublin, who now lives in Thousand Palms, has always been interested in art. He grew up in the low-income areas of the Western Coachella Valley, where crime, addictions and mental illness were prominent in various social circles.

“Art was a talent for me,” he shares, “and it kind of got dumbed down early in life because of my living situation. We were poor, had to work, and work came before anything else, so when I went to school, I chose to take the ‘career’ path. I didn’t realize art was a career path.”

Instead, he became a technician first, only to realize that many individuals choose art as a career. When he started watering some his creative seeds, he initially became fond of human figure drawing and went on to pursue a Studio Art degree at College of the Desert.  A Life Drawing class at Palm Springs Art Museum expanded his focus to oil painting, graffiti art, and other works involving various media components.

Now, he’s realizing that, through his creativity, he can give back to the community in ways he never imagined.

Man on Bench, Palm Springs by Emmanuel Doublin

“I haven’t been putting it out there much about helping the homeless as far as social media because I usually would give homeless people money,” he says. “But now I’m giving them prepaid food cards for like $20 at a local restaurant, and making little packs for them, and bringing them water. I always make a Thanksgiving meal for them, too.”

There’s a rare kind of richness in Doublin’s philanthropic efforts, which makes his recent grant all the more synchronistic. The Creative Corps Grant was made possible through Inland Empire Community Foundation , which has long served the region, distributing grants to numerous nonprofit organizations and individuals.

“I like to share parts of my community,” Doublin says of his work. Growing up, I saw homelessness. We definitely have a problem with homelessness and people lacking resources. Maybe some people don’t see that, and it’s unfortunate, so I’m just sharing that this is out there; that this is what’s being swept under the rug. Some of us wish to engage in political art, and I just love to express what’s out there in the community.”

And it’s not always so sad or lonely, he’s quick to add. Doublin’s other works include a mural celebrating Martin Luther King Jr., and projects that touch on Black history.

Overall, he’s fueled by his love of the area.

“I’m a big fan of the Coachella Valley,” he says. “I was born and raised here, and it’s like no other place in the world. It’s small, so it feels like home all the time. Everybody’s friendly, and I love getting out there in the community, where I can put different skills—painting, sculpture—out there.

“I am also glad the community has become more receptive to art and to creators,” he adds. “They’ve been enjoying the art. Artists are important. We’re the storytellers of the time period.”

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Christy Roberts Berkowitz

Art with meaning encompasses much of Christy Roberts Berkowitz’s work. The crux of the Upland artist’s creative vision culls from a Jewish principle called tikkun olam, which aims to repair the world or to leave it more improved or healed than you found it.

“My mom always made art,” Robert Berkowitz says, noting her mother Katie Roberts, who passed away last year after serving as an Ontario police officer for 42 years. “Even though she was a cop, she made art and played music, so that was always a part of my upbringing.”

Her mother’s death last year prompted the artist to apply for several grants so she could continue creating new and innovative works. A good thing. One look at the Upland artist’s vast portfolio, and it’s hard to dismiss her incredible drive.

Robert Berkowitz is known as an artist, musician, writer, and educator, but it’s her other roles that capture interest too, most notably “agitator” and “emotional laborer.” As such, the artist is all about composing memorable experiences, images, and objects that, “explore personal and collective constructions of power and agency.”

“I was going to go through law school,” she says, “but then I realized I was probably going to be a mediocre lawyer because I didn’t want to do it as much as I wanted to be an artist. So, I came home and told my parents I was going back to art school.”

In time, she’d go on to become a faculty member at the University of La Verne in the art, art history, photography, and Honors departments). Her work now stretches across many mediums—from art and performance to text, media, and music.  

She is also a founding member of The California Poppy Collective, Problematic Radio, Human Resources for Art Workers, and the Los Angeles Art Union. Her striking exhibitions and events have reached the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, MOCA Los Angeles, The Getty Museum, and many others.

Not to be left out: the dynamic artist is currently the 2023/2024 Creative Strategist in Residence for Los Angeles County.

Recently, Robert Berkowitz received a Creative Corps Inland SoCal grant through the Inland Empire Community Foundation. The grant is designed to assist artists and organizations to envision and co-create public projects, events, and media that touch upon everything from environmental matters and public health to social justice and civic engagement.

As a grantee, Roberts Berkowitz said the funds will allow her to fuel a bold artistic endeavor called “The Gardens,” which can be experienced through the Hoverlay app, a rising augmented reality platform that allows individuals to publish digital content in various spaces from AR channels, emails, and the internet.

“I wanted to do a large project that exists in the augmented reality space so that it could be experienced across abilities and locations without a barrier to experiencing the work,” Roberts Berkowitz says. “The project will essentially be a large, augmented reality database of important native plants and how they have traditionally been used by the indigenous people in various locations here.”

Shelby Lorraine Lindsley, an MFA 2nd year student at Otis College, assists Christy with both research and programming

She goes on to say she was interested in the idea of “decolonization,” and what that looks like, noting that there may often be misunderstandings about the meaning of the word. 

“As far as our landscapes and ecosystems are concerned, it means returning the stewardship of the land back to indigenous practices that were developed to best care for the land,” she adds. “So, for Inland Empire, that would be the traditions of land-carrying that were kept by the Serrano and Cahuilla people.”

To that end, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians have selected the most important plants in six of the locations Roberts Berkowitz proposed. 

“We then set about documenting them and creating digital 3D models of them,” she says. “And creating an experience for people through a free Hoverlay app, which is mainly used for education and art purposes.”

The artist’s ambitions don’t stop there, however.

“We’re hoping to eventually have a physical community garden that grows these plants,” she shares. “The dream would be that local seniors would then be able to take the access crops and sell them at farmers’ markets, and local school kids could see all the plants represented in person. That’s the long-term dream.”

Learn more about christy roberts berkowitz at christyrobertsart.com.

Discover more at iegives.org.

This story originally appeared in the Press Enterprise December 2023.

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Cj Jilek

For decades, Cj Jilek has devoted herself to making exceptional art. Between her extensive ceramic art and porcelain offerings that lean in biomorphic forms, there is no shortage of ideas for the artist.

Now she’s directing some of her efforts on giving back to the community. To that end, the San Bernardino County artist is nurturing a new exhibit that targets human rights and women’s rights specifically. Four upcoming art exhibits planned in the region. One of them, entitled “Systematic Erosion,” is currently running through December 17 at the American Museum of Ceramic Art in Pomona, and the second part exhibition will be featured in Ontario.

“My previous work as an exhibiting ceramic artist has been working with feminine identity through the use of botanical imagery,” Jilek says. “When I took on this project, it just kind of lent itself to having both an environmental feel and raising awareness around the idea of people’s eroding rights around the world right now. Calling it ‘Systematic Erosion’ created this nice tie between environmentalism and human rights.”

That link is drawing interest, but so is Jilek’s creativity. The show itself is based heavily on ceramics but there are mixed media elements incorporated.“I had previously been a two-dimensional art major with drawing and illustration and once I was able to switch over to that super tactile medium and create in three dimensions, all of my creative thoughts just started to accumulate, then be produced,” adds Jilek, who has been working in the medium for more than 25 years.

Originally from the Midwest, the artist used the world as her canvas. She appreciated the different nuances founded in landscapes and nature—from the sea and mountains to the deserts and floral arenas in between. After completing her MFA degree in 2010, Jilek traveled to Poland so she could work in the traditional ceramic factories of Boleslawiec.

She’d go on to teach ceramics in Santa Barbara for 10 years, appreciating the tactile experience and conceptual design.

“I’ve always been interested, of course, in women’s rights,” she says of the current exhibit. “And with so many changes happening around the world right now—rights to health care, body autonomy, and education—so much is changing for women and the LGBTQ+ groups that it felt like people need to be voicing their thoughts and making it clear where they stand on all of these changes happening.”

Recently, Jilek received a grant from the Inland Empire Community Foundation through the Creative Corps Inland SoCal Program, which offers grants to local, regional, and statewide organizations in 58 counties for unemployed and underemployed artists. The grants allow artists to create public awareness messages and projects in support of civic engagement and community participation.

Artwork by Cj Jilek

To be sure, Jilek’s art—and in turn, her voice—invite engagement as they dazzle the eyes and sense with their unique shapes and styles. Her jewelry designs, for instance, sprang from experimenting with surface studies for her biomorphic sculptures. She spent a great deal of time looking at things on a microscopic level, then pondering “surfaces”—from skin pores and other cells. The works are made from porcelain beginning with a smooth form created in a press mold.

“The jewelry allows me to share my love of textures and the intricacies of surface in a wearable format,” she says.

The artist’s ceramic pieces are noteworthy, ranging in size and shape yet all of them embody inventive use of texture and creative style.

“It’s important anytime artists get extra funding to communicate,” she says. “It’s just so vital artists document their times and communicate what’s currently happening. Communicating your voice is necessary.”

Learn more about Cj Jilek at cjjilekartist.com.

This story originally appeared in the Press Enterprise November 2023.

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