Grant inspires diverse programming at Palm Springs Cultural Center

Palm Springs is feeding a dreamy fairy tale that lives "happily ever after" in perpetuity. The story thus far: In 2017, ten years after founding the Palm Springs Cultural Center, philanthropists Ric and Rozene Supple gifted the historic Camelot Theatres building, which they owned, to the cultural center.

Flashforward to 2024 and the Palm Springs Cultural Center continues to expand its reach with locals and a growing number of tourists annually. From the inventive film programming taking place in the Camelot Theatres and the center's live performance space to the center's inventive film festivals — Cinema Diverse: The Palm Springs LGBTQ+ Film Festival and the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival among them — Executive Director Michael C. Green and the center's team continue to stoke the creative embers originally sparked by the Supples.

"We continue to offer a variety of things with many different kinds of arts programming," says Green, who's been with the center since 2010. Green has also been at the helm of Cinema Diverse for some time, and he's quick to note how well things have evolved.

"We have currently three different theater companies in residence at the Cultural Center," he says, noting Desert Ensemble Theatre, Inner Circle Theatre Company and The Bent. "They're all very different, and they really fill our third theater — which is the one we turned into a live theater — from the middle of September all the way through May."

Its mission to encourage arts and cultural programs "to leverage the unique power of creativity to open minds, bridge what divides us and discover what connects us" remains intact, too, and it shows up in the center's vast programming, which recently benefited from the Sheffer/Scheffler Donor Advised Fund through the Inland Empire Community Foundation.

"That's one of the great things about receiving a grant like that," Green says. "It helps us pay for programming at the theater. We're able to just turn right back around and use that grant to program events, sell tickets and keep things going."

On that note, summer is coming but things are far from cooling off at the Camelot Theatres. New programming is bound to entice.

"We're excited to let people know they'll be able to see "Sordid Lives" at 6:30 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays or Sundays all summer," Green says. "Back when the film first came out, Camelot Theatres played it for over two years, nonstop. We called (the film's writer-director) Del Shores, and he gave us contact for his distributor. We set up a deal to run the show again, and we think it'll be a really fun retro thing."

Also on the film docket is the entire Star Wars saga from start to finish, which the theater will screen on Saturday evenings beginning June 29. An upcoming Director's Choice, a monthly series, will spotlight popular films by acclaimed filmmakers. Alfred Hitchcock is first to "fade in."

There's more of course.

Collectively, the center's programs also include art installations, lecture series and the Coachella Valley Certified Farmers Markets. All of them feed into the nonprofit's creative inspiration points to continue expanding learning and "building meaningful relationships with the people and the environment around us."

Learn more at psculturalcenter.org.

Inland Empire Community Foundation works to strengthen Inland Southern California through philanthropy. Visit iegives.org.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Grant inspires diverse programming at Palm Springs Cultural Center