At high noon on a Saturday, the last aluminum pour of the day is about to commence at the Yucca Valley Material Lab . Heidi Schwegler, founder of the Lab, has crawled up to the roof to get the best vantage point for a video. Schwegler has a hard stance on safety while still allowing for wild experimentation — it’s this attitude that makes the compound, with its art and recording studios, gallery, retrofitted campers and workshops like foundry and glass casting — a place of inspiration and community that pulls in people from all over the nation, but especially Angelenos looking for a reprieve from city life.
“This is the closest Derek and I could get to L.A. and afford itr” said Schwegler, referring to her partner, Derek Monypeny, who works with musicians.
“And I think if you ask a lot of artists out here, they’ll say the same thing. It’s as close as you can get and be a really decent place to live and have a huge studio and still be within driving distance of an art center.” It’s this passion and energy that pull artists east.
Every workshop sells out, attracting hot-shot artists and retired high school teachers alike. “It’s really amazing to see my art and pedagogical practice come together outside of myself — in the form of a curved metal building plopped in the Mojave Desert,” Schwegler said. “Never would I have imagined this when we bought this property in 2018.
” The Lab has become a landing place for out-of-town artists and people looking .
