About the 29 Palms Creative Center & Gallery
Art is Everything!
Ever since she was a child, Gretchen just wanted to do art, nothing else. That single-minded intensity never wavered, through childhood illness, through years away at college, and living in Central California afterward.
When Gretchen Grunt was 10 years old, she was sitting in the Creative Center building having her portrait done by Don Malone, artist and 29 High Art Instructor, and had a premonition, “I’m going to do something in this building someday!”
A dream come true.
In 2003, Gretchen was offered the opportunity to make her dream a reality — to start the Creative Center. With a lot of sweat, strong vision, family and community support, she built a place to create and sell art. She added the classes in 2004 and began serving the homeschool community in 2010.
Gretchen
Gretchen believes the creative spirit is in every person and encourages every adult and child who comes in to express themselves with their own colors. It’s just paint! There’s nothing to be afraid of!
When Gretchen founded the Creative Center, she made a deal with her mom, Jane, that no student would be turned away due to financial difficulty. To help provide scholarships for the Creative Center Kids Art Grant Program, she is always accepting donations.
The heart, spirit and encouragement for Gretchen’s lifelong art, focus, education and career came from the blessings of her mom and dad, Jane and Ron Grunt.
Jane Grunt Smith
August 11, 1941 - July 22, 2021
Jane always saw potential in the people of this world and shared what she had to further this potential. Her positive outlook, creativity and endless energy was infectious, attracting talented visionaries from all over the world. Jane entirely immersed herself, not only in the 29 Palms Inn, but also in the local community and into the preservation of the greater desert, co-founder of the Mojave Desert Land Trust. Jane’s ideas and all of her actions were solidly grounded in her spiritual connection with the miraculous beauty of the Earth. Jane has left an example for her family, her friends, and even those who never met her, as to how one should carry themselves while on this planet. Her message to all was that one should leave this place and this world better than they found it, as "life is precious".
29 Palms Inn
A Family Legacy
Gretchen's great grandparents, Harry and Millie "Mer" Farsing Johansing started the family legacy in 1928, when the entire Oasis of Mara was purchased, where the Inn and Joshua Tree National Park Headquarters resides today.
Then, her grandparents, Robert "Doc" and Claire "Omah" Johansing Van Lahr reluctantly moved to 29 Palms in 1939, to manage the Inn. This is when the love for the desert and the family legacy grew deeper roots. The Inn is far more than just a family business; it is a lifestyle that brings joy to people from all walks of life, gathering for celebration. Jane was born, raised and then took ownership of the Inn in 1977 from her parents. She poured passion like glasses of wine, caregiving and nourishing others into the business. Under her watch, the Inn blossomed to become even more of a place to renew your spirit, eat fresh picked food from the same location the Chemehuevi gardened, be creative and discovering the cultural significance of the Mojave Desert, a sacred space for all to preserve.
Life is precious.
Gretchen is grateful for the
ancestral communities, lifetime friends, family and clientele who support her creative bliss in this wondrously sacred space that the Serrano and Chemehuevi Tribes call the Oasis of Mara, "the place of little springs and much grass".
Gratitude
"Thank you to the diverse array of significant tribes of people who paved the way on the land I call my home today."
Family celebrated Janie's precious life in this sacred space by setting her free in her favorite place, the Oasis of Mara.