Now showing at the 29 Palms Inn
Nancy Miehle & Chuck Caplinger
March 29th - May 31st 2015
NANCY MIEHLE
Nancy Miehle was born in Chicago, Illinois where she stayed until moving to Yucca Valley in 1997. Growing up in a creative family Nancy’s mother taught her to paint and draw, and her sister the art of stained glass.
Nancy first discovered the desert in 1996 while visiting a friend in Johnson Valley with her husband Bob, who pilots a Piper Arrow airplane. While the couple initially considering the area as a place to retire in the future, Nancy and her husband Bob flew the Piper Arrow across the country and returned to the desert one year later and purchased a home in 1997 around the Yucca Valley airport.
After moving to Yucca Valley Nancy was encouraged by new friends to get back into creating art. She took classes at both the 29 Palms Art Gallery and Copper Mountain Collage and quickly rediscovered her love of painting. While Nancy has tried many mediums oils are her favorite, inspired by the colors and the feel of the oils on the canvas.
Nancy has been an active member of the Morongo Basin Cultural Arts Council since 2012, which has given her opportunity to exhibit her work throughout the Morongo Basin. She has also been an active member and treasurer of Chaparral Artists for the last six years, another organization dedicated to promoting the arts in the high desert.
CHUCK CAPLINGER
A Texas native and professional artist for over 40 years Chuck Caplinger has worked in the creative fields of design, illustration, and art direction. His oil paintings and portraits hang in public and private collections around the world, and his murals are found in cities throughout California and Texas.
Chuck and his actress wife, Holgie Forrester, moved to Twentynine Palms California in 1997, trading a Hollywood studio for a beautiful dome house near the entrance to Joshua Tree National Park that has since become Chuck Caplinger’s Desert Art Studio & Gallery. Inspired by this new environment Chuck began to create stunning oil paintings of the desert wildlife and landscape, many of which are on display now at the 29 Palms Inn.
Chuck has been instrumental in promoting the arts and cultural tourism throughout the Joshua Tree gateway communities and co-founded the Morongo Basin Cultural Arts Council in 2001. In addition to starting the Arts Council Chuck also co-founded the Open Studio Art Tours (now called the Hwy 62 Open Studio Art Tours) which has grown to be one of the biggest art events of the year in the high desert. In 2004 Chuck co-founded a public arts program for the City of Twentynine Palms and the Public Arts Advisory Committee (PAAC) and designed and donated the concept for the City’s iconic 29! sculpture.
Chuck is also an incredibly talented muralist whose work can be seen throughout the City of Twentynine Palms and across the state of California. Most recently Chuck collaborated with Art Mortimer and created the California Desert Protection Act 20th Anniversary mural at the Old Schoolhouse Museum here in Twentynine Palms – visible as you exit the driveway at the 29 Palms Inn.
The Morongo Basin Cultural Arts Council is a nonprofit, volunteer-based organization whose mission is to inspire and enliven the community through the arts, and to enhance the cultural and economic health of the region. Building community through the arts, the Arts Council continues to be a leading source of information, inspiration and energy for artists and patrons throughout the Morongo Basin and beyond.
The Art in Public Places program organized by the Arts Council allows MBCAC members the opportunity to show their artwork at a variety of venues throughout the Morongo Basin, including here at the 29 Palms Inn restaurant.
Visit the MBCAC website for listings of other shows and events.
