Backers: Pride monument sculpture on pace for mid-October installation

A highly-anticipated monument to the city’s rich LGBTQ+ history, designed by local artist Jim Isermann, will be installed at Frances Stevens Park by mid-October, backers of the project confirmed Monday during a news conference at The Thompson Hotel.

Speaking directly across the street from the corner of Indian Canyon Drive and East Alejo Road — where the sculpture will be installed — Palm Springs Pride officials said the $500,000 stainless steel sculpture in development since April 2022 is currently being assembled in Houston and will be transported to Palm Springs on a flatbed truck for installation.

“This is really exciting,” said Palm Springs Pride President and CEO Ron deHarte, who also currently serves as the city’s mayor. “It’s being assembled now.”

Isermann, who has lived in Palm Springs since 1997, was selected from among 45 international artists through a blind jury process.

“They had no idea who was who, and who they selected was Jim Isermann, who happened to be gay and happened to be from Palm Springs. It was just coincidental,” said Al Jones, president of the monument board of directors.

The monument will stand eight feet tall and measure 14 feet at its widest point. It will feature 720 stainless steel modules painted in different colors that bolt together to form a single structure.

The sculpture incorporates significant LGBTQ+ symbols, including a triangular design inspired by the pink triangle used during the Holocaust and later reclaimed as a symbol of gay liberation in 1972.

Also noteworthy, Isermann explained, is the fact the footprint of the wall forms a lambda, one of the first coded symbols for gay liberation after the Stonewall riots, adopted by the Gay Activist Alliance in the early 1970s.

The color scheme incorporates the original eight colors from Gilbert Baker’s 1978 rainbow flag, which included aqua and hot pink in addition to the six colors commonly seen today. Isermann added black and brown to this palette.

“I was really dead set on having all the symbolism of this piece be undeniably tied to the LGBTQ community,” Isermann said.

Jones outlined the extensive process that led to the sculpture’s creation, including developing a request for proposals and obtaining approvals from multiple city entities.

By last summer, the project had secured approvals from the Parks and Recreation Commission, the Public Arts Commission, the Historic Preservation Site Commission, and the City Council.

“We wanted to be very thoughtful,” he explained. “We did not want to make mistakes that other types of organizations have made moving forward.”

According to deHarte, the monument will serve as a gathering place and educational tool highlighting the contributions of LGBTQ+ individuals to Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley.

“We are letting our youth know that this is a gathering place for them to come and assemble and be recognized and be proud, and that our history will forever live on,” deHarte said.

While this will be Isermann’s first piece of public art in Palm Springs, he noted that his work is already featured at UC Riverside and the Palm Springs Art Museum.

“The fact that this is going to take just under two years to make is actually lightning fast in public art terms,” Isermann said. “So I’m very excited about that.”

Officials announced they are seeking to raise an additional $150,000 to complete funding for the monument, having already secured $350,000 in donations. Donations can be made at pspride.org.

Once installed, the monument will be donated to the city.

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