Yucca Valley Material Lab is dedicated to hands-on learning, transformative residencies, and community engagement in the Mojave Desert.

mission

YVML is a nonprofit art organization dedicated to hands-on making, material exploration, and cultural exchange.

We support underserved artists through fully funded residencies, scholarships, and teaching opportunities while offering public workshops in specialized techniques often missing from traditional education.

Exploration of processes, the embrace of failure and discovery, and the celebration of creative expression are at the heart of our mission. By fostering risk-taking, collaboration, and skill-sharing, YVML nurtures an arts ecosystem where artists develop their craft, expand their professional networks, and contribute to a diverse creative community.

Through free public events, exhibitions, and artist-led programs—including our Yucca Alta music initiative—we create spaces where art is not only made but shared as a dynamic force for connection and transformation.

We do this work because we believe art shapes a world worth living in.

donate

Yucca Valley Material Lab is a 501c3 non-profit organization that was established in 2019. Contributions for the charitable purposes of Yucca Valley Material Lab are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law (EIN: 83-3715029). Unless otherwise specified, your generous contribution will support the Lab's artist and musician residencies, workshop scholarships, and public event programs.

workshops

TESTIMONIALS:

“YVML is an almost dangerous yet cozy adventure in the exploration of the self, nature and the relationships we build as artists; supported by the fine artists and community organizers invested in extending opportunities for those who dare be their true selves.”
Haydeé Jiménez,Transdisciplinary Artist and Curator, Los Angeles/Northern Baja California Region

“I haven’t seen anything like this in the region. Yucca Valley Material Lab is super unique. It’s like going into the future; it’s on the cutting edge for thinking and testing and creative skill-sharing.”
Alejandro Gutierrez Chavez, Executive Director, Arts Connection, San Bernardino, CA

“YVML is not just a place for artistic innovation; it is a beacon for the universal creation of art, ensuring that art remains accessible and inclusive for all, including those with disabilities.”
Andy Slater, media artist, writer, performer, and disability advocate, Chicago

“YVML’s support and encouragement has helped me to realize my potential as a solo artist with something to offer that virtual strangers actually want in their community as they foster or engender diversity, inclusive measures and a generational responsiveness to equity. The combined histories of art-making, teaching and community relationship-building from YVML Founding Director Heidi Schwegler and Music Director Derek Monypeny are both inspirational and impactful. As a performer of, mostly, ephemeral outputs, Ms Schwegler’s commitment to Craft and making Crafts accessible demonstrates an openness to the ever-changing needs and challenges of community service. I count myself very lucky to have received the blessing of the YVML Music Residency and I pray that it continues as I keep a lookout for whatever they do next.”
Marshall Trammell, self-styled Music Research Strategist, Oakland, and Albuquerque

people