The Palm Springs structure, reconceived by architect Susan Secoy Jensen, recently reopened as the new locale for Dezart Performs, and the buzz is building—for the property and the performing arts enterprise. 

A recent grant from Inland Empire Community Foundation (IECF) through the FitzDell Gifting Fund is yet another boost as Dezart creates a new path into the future. 

“We spent last spring, into the summer, and into early fall converting the church into a theater performing arts space,” said Michael Shaw, Co-founder and Artistic Director of Dezart Performs, noting that the organization was grateful to receive a grant from The FitzDell Gifting Fund through IECF.  

The Donor Advised Fund was established at IECF by donors Jack Fitzsimmons and Walter Gendell to support various causes in in the region. 

“We’ve been receiving gifts along the way to help this transition, and it’s been a big campaign,” Shaw said. “But the FitzDell Gifting Fund was the first who gave to the campaign for the church and the renovation. Additionally, through the fund, a gift was made towards a naming opportunity—including name on the seats of our new theater chairs, which will be installed during Phase Two of this project.” 

There have been many opportunities for patrons and donors to support the renovation, Shaw added—from lighting aspects and a new stage to seats, equipment, and ADA-compliant modifications. 

The new 6,000 square foot playhouse will help meet the expanding needs of the company’s continuous growth and serve as a hub for diverse activities, community events, and cultural engagement.  

Shaw says the new playhouse will increase the excitement of the local arts scene, creating more opportunities for a variety of voices and talents to represented and celebrated.  

One-hundred-fifty seats will occupy the fully equipped theater. There are dressing rooms, a rehearsal hall, meeting rooms, and lobby with box office and bar.  

“The transformation of this stunning Albert Frey-designed church into a state-of-the-art professional theater is not just a dream come true; it’s a profound honor,” Shaw noted last year in a statement. “We are privileged to have this unique and rare opportunity to breathe new life into this architectural gem.” 

The theater opened in November last year. Shaw said Phase Two of the revamps begins in April. In the meantime, there’s plenty of theater to be had.  

Dezart recently wrapped production of “Eureka Day” Jan. 25. Up next: The West Coast Premiere of “Destroying David” by Jason Odell Williams, which is set for Feb. 26, and will run through March 8. The production revolves around an art restorer/docent, who gives the audience a private after-hours tour of Michelangelo’s David at Florence’s Galleria dell’Accademia.  

“Jason is a wonderful playwright and has become a dear friend,” Shaw said. “We held the regional premiere of his ‘Church and State,’ about eight years ago at our original location, and it did very well. ‘Destroying David’ is a fascinating piece; a powerful one-person play that is very interactive with the audience, who become ‘tourists’ touring the gallery.  

Look for a unique relationship to form between the docent and the audience. 

“The docent raises the question, ‘How permanent is art supposed to be? Does art have an infinite life? Or is there a point where it’s no longer significant?’” Shaw said. “There’s this conversation about, ‘What if I destroyed the [Michelangelo’s] David? What if we got rid of this 300-plus-year-old piece of work?’ The message of the play is not so much about art as it is the docent’s dealing with grief of the loss of their son named David. It’s a lot about life and loss.” 

Then, come April, look for Tony-Award-winner “Love! Valour! Compassion!,” which rounds out the season. 

Meanwhile, Dezart continues to raise major gifts to complete Phase Two.  

“We continue to develop new opportunities for everyone to be a part of this,” Shaw said. “We have something called, ‘Circle of Friends,’ which is designated for donors who give us contributions between $2,500 and $10,000. They’re names would be permanently displayed on the walls of the theater. They’re also mentioned in all our programs. 

“We’re excited about that opportunity, and all the support,” Shaw added. “The FitzDell Gifting Fund is just one element of this piece of the puzzle that continues to grow. It’s a wonderful time.” 

This story originally appeared in the Desert Sun, February, 2026.

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“The IECF grant will greatly help us expand our community outreach programs,” said Annie Reutinger, Executive Manager of The Artists Council. “The Artists Council has been around for more than 50 years—at one point, it was part of the Palm Springs Art Museum—but seven years ago they spun us off and we regrouped and became a nonprofit.”

At the time, the Council had 187 members.

“Now, we have more than 700,” Reutinger said. “We’re located in Palm Desert and celebrating our fifth year of operating in a new building. The grant comes at a good time.”

The Artists Council will utilize the IECF resources in several ways. Reutinger is quick to note one beneficiary: The Young Artists Exhibition.

“We work with about 14 to 17 high schools throughout the Coachella Valley,” she said. “We typically have 120 students submit artwork for the show, which happens each spring.”

The work begins long before, however. The Artists Council sends perspectives to art teachers in fall, giving students ample time to work creatively in their classes.

“Eventually, they submit the artwork, and we have them framed,” Reutinger said. “We want to feature the artwork on the walls and have a reception for the kids and their families. But we also want to make the exhibit available for other kids so that they can come see their classmates’ work.”

Many of these kids haven’t been in a lot of museums, she added.

“You can tell when they walk in, because they’re just in awe of the building,” Reutinger mused. “We’re hoping to sponsor more events like that this year—bus trips and working with the teachers to bring in other students, either from art classes or from other classes, maybe 10 students from their high school.”

Another benefit of the grant involves scheduling special art classes for people living with Alzheimer’s. To that end, the Council is working together with the Palm Desert chapter of the Alzheimer’s organization, Alzheimer’s Association Desert Southwest Chapter.

“In the past, we were able to offer two of these classes a month,” Reutinger said. “Those with Alzheimer’s come with either a family member or a caretaker, and they, too, are also allowed to participate in the class. It’s a good bonding and communication exercise and just a nice way for the people with Alzheimer’s to express themselves.”

She added that the grant allowed the Council to add an additional third class on the third Tuesday of a month. The funding received will help pay for the art instructor and to have staff on hand to open the building and make sure everything’s functioning correctly.

“We supply all the art supplies, too—different paints and paper and whatever it is that the instructor guides people through in the lesson,” Reutinger noted, adding that about 22 people partake in each class.

These are but two examples of the organization’s enduring legacy in the region.

The Artists Council has long promoted the art and artists of the Coachella Valley and beyond. Its mission to “elevate” its artist members “through exhibitions, professional development, and impactful community engagement” has been well received.

Reutinger encourages people to explore the Council’s various programs, exhibitions, art and business-of-art classes, as well as its many lectures, workshops, salons, and social gatherings it offers.

Looking ahead, art lovers will appreciate the Council’s unique partnership with Modernism Week in February.

“It will be our biggest juried art show of the year,” Reutinger said, noting that it’s the organization’s first time pairing the Modernism Week organizers.

“We will host free demonstrations and lectures for the public during that time,” she said. “It will be related to modernism art, design, and architecture. We’re very excited about this new collaboration.”

And mark your calendars: the Young Artists Exhibition runs April 8-19.

This story originally appeared in the Desert Sun, February, 2026.

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Highlanders Boxing Club (HBC), an organization that has long been committed to improving the lives of neighborhood youth via after-school behavioral health and sports programs, is using recent funding from an Inland Empire Community Foundation grant to broaden its efforts to affect change.

Founder Tony Collins Cifuentes, who launched the organization in 2005, says the recent grant will allow HBC to expand some of its programming and where those services are offered.

“This is a beautiful opportunity,” Cifuentes said of the grant, citing that it will enhance the home-based, all-volunteer-run organization. “Things don’t look so good within some communities. There’s a lot of things happening that involve and impact youth and at-risk youth. The IECF grant will help us go forward with other things we do like social services and programs for the kids.”

“We feel blessed,” he added.

After Cifuentes founded the organization more than 20 years ago, he saw a greater need for connection among youth in the area. Initially, the goal was clear: to use boxing, fitness training, and mentoring to spark healthy lifestyles and encourage drug- and violence-free living.

“But then it became important to include our surrounding communities, too,” Cifuentes said, noting the gradual success of the organization. “We started as a boxing gym then had to evolve because we found out that not all youth wanted to become athletes or fighters.”

“We transitioned and offered things like a workforce development program, social services, enrichment classes, and other services,” he added.

The shift from mostly boxing to offering broader services reflected the needs of both San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

“The kids and parents needed more,” Cifuentes stressed. Now, the organization offers programs in several school districts and beyond.

“Our mentoring and social services not only target young boys and girls but also parents, and includes parenting classes,” he said. “We’ve come a long way since I began. Initially, I just wanted to get young kids off the streets that didn’t have a place to go after school. In a community like this, with the population and our culture, there really wasn’t much to offer within these neighborhoods.”

“We took it and ran with it,” he added.

Looking ahead, Cifuentes is excited about several new programs that will filter into the mix, most notably the recent launch of HBC Tabernacle Ranch, which he calls “a safe haven and an oasis where kids can go and be mentored or hike, or just feel safe.”

Educational workshops are offered in the sprawling 30-acre property located on San Bernardino’s north side. Cifuentes said youth can learn about conservation and various forms of environmental stewardship here. Horseback riding, archery, and axe throwing are also offered. So is a nightly campfire and gathering spot for attendees.

“We’re excited about the year ahead,” Cifuentes said. “We also want people that want to help, endorse us or become a sponsor to reach out. We want to keep growing.”

This story originally appeared in the Press Enterprise, February, 2026.

Stay up to date on all the good work we’re doing through the power of philanthropy. Sign up for our eNewsletter, Philanthropy Matters, today.

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“We need each other as African American gay brothers more than ever through support, love, communication, intimacy, and spirituality,” reads the sobering proclamation on the website of Brothers of the Desert. It is but one of many bold truths that Tim Vincent, the nonprofit’s board of directors’ president, stands by and will focus on as the organization heads into 2024.

“The organization came from a small group of people wanting to create a space where Black men in the Valley felt comfortable, safe, and seen,” Vincent says. “When we organized, it wasn’t only to be social, to connect to people, and to support people identifying in the Black LGBTQ+ context, but so much more. We also realized that the people we were finding and organizing with had incredible talents and skills and assets.”

Vincent adds that since the organization’s birth in 2017, the nonprofit has been able to harness new talents in ways designed to give back to the community.

“We built our community and connected our community, then we were clear that we needed to demonstrate the breadth of talent we had,” he says.

It’s a noteworthy achievement. In just six years, the nonprofit has grown considerably. The mission remains rock solid: To “nurture and support Black gay men and allies through philanthropy, volunteerism, mentorship, education, advocacy, and social networking.” 

One thrust is to change the paradigm that fuels isolation, disconnection, and inequities among Black gay men.

“We’re looking to grow our organization as we head into 2024,” Vincent says. “We’re a member organization—we have about 75-80 members—and we call members people who identify as Black and gay and cis-gendered or transgendered male-men. We’re also looking to reach a younger demographic and a larger place in the Valley besides the central parts we have been more focused on.”

Recently, Brothers of the Desert received a grant from the Inland Empire Community Foundation through the IE Black Equity Fund. Vincent was quick to note that the resources helped the nonprofit accomplish ways to strengthen and fortify a recent annual wellness summit it hosted.

“The summit brought together several public health experts, but not just public health,” he adds. “People who speak on the topics of relationships, financial freedom, and a variety of things that support the health and well-being of black gay men and also our allies.”

The annual event, typically a big draw, expanded this year. In addition to the speakers on hand, Vincent points out other nuances that affect the nonprofit’s reach. Some of those elements include the addition of chronicling stories and filmed interviews.

“We hadn’t done that in the past,” he says. “People had gone to the Wellness Summit, then wanted where they could see somebody’s presentation later. We were able to hire people to do that and grow it as a resource.”

The recent grant helped draw in several noteworthy speakers, including Greg Millett, Vice President and Director of Public Policy for amfAR’, the Foundation for AIDS Research. Millet was also one of the principal writers of the National HIV-AIDS Strategy in the Obama administration.

Also on the roster: Malcolm Kenyatta, a Pennsylvania State Representative, and Bishop Yvette Flunder Flounder, well known as an interfaith bishop and minister.

Looking ahead, Vincent notes the continued forward movement of community and organizational collaborations, special advocacy groups, select film screenings, and unique factions that unite individuals, such as the Barbershop Discussion Group, Speaker Series, and New Year’s Eve Fundraiser.

On that note, the event, dubbed “Dancing Through The Decades,” takes place at Margaritaville Resort at 8 p.m. on Dec. 31.

“We started with a New Year’s event and someone at that event basically said that it was nice to start a social networking, but in order to sustain this group and give it any kind of life, it had to have some meaning,” Vincent says of the annual event. “We decided that night that we had to do more than just hang out. So, every New Year’s Eve, we celebrate our approach and look to the future.

“This New Year’s Eve we will be celebrating different decades in terms of the bands and music,” he adds. “And we’ll also give legacy awards to people who have contributed to who we are as Black LGBTQ+ people.”

This story originally appeared in the Desert Sun December 2023.

Learn more about Brothers of the Desert at brothersofthedesert.org.

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