Groundwork Arts

Groundwork Arts offers a Collaborative Public Art Project, music and performance activities, and an Artist Workshop Program. The program includes projects such as Signs of Courage, a public art project featuring signs with positive and inspiring messages designed by sixth-grade students. It also includes SoundLAB BLACK ROCK HIGH SCHOOL, where local musicians mentor students, and StageFright, a performance art initiative that blends alter-egos, live music, costume, and collective experimentation to create spaces where audience and performer meet.

• Schedule: 15 Artist-Mentors | 250+ MUSD Elementary Students in ELOP After School 2024-25

Groundwork Arts’ mission is to ensure students, their families, and teachers have equitable access to the arts, with a focus on filling instructional gaps and providing pathways for students to develop creative thinking skills needed to navigate the 21st century. The leadership team includes Rhonda Lane Coleman (Director & Lead Artist), Mary Evans (Production Assistant & Teaching Artist), Melissa Sabol (Operations, Creative Director, & Lead Artist), Jorge Davies (Media Producer & Lead Artist), Meg Shannon (School Liaison & Teaching Artist), and Heather Sprague (Artist Coordinator & Teaching Artist).

Rhonda Lane Coleman is an arts professional with advanced degrees in Art History, Business Administration, and Museum Studies, and has held curatorial positions at the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle and The Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, as well as teaching at the University of Washington and the University of Southern California; she is the Executive Director of Joshua Tree Living Arts and the Director of Groundwork Arts. Heather Drake holds a BA in Art Education from Cal State San Bernardino and is a certified California Naturalist. Groundwork Arts utilizes relationships with arts organizations and colleagues in the community to benefit Morongo Unified School District students, including work with Joshua Tree National Park Council for the Arts, Joshua Tree Music Festival, 29 Palms Art Gallery, Morongo Basin Cultural Arts Council, and Morongo Unified School District. Grounded in art as social practice, Andersen has organized and hosted performances, screenings, and workshops throughout the Morongo Basin, expanding access to the arts in rural desert communities.

Last updated March 24, 2026.