YUCCA VALLEY, CA — The Hi-Desert Cultural Center will present the world premiere of The Pearly Gates Collection art exhibition and the Havana Noir art exhibition at its new Yucca Valley Visual & Performing Arts Center (YVArts) November 3rd, 2018 with a celebratory public gala from 6-9 pm.  The main exhibition, The Pearly Gates Collection, pays tribute to the late prominent art curator, Walter Hopps, who at the time became the youngest museum director in the United States and whose pioneering curation and radical approach would garner him much acclaim.  The Pearly Gates Collection exhibition consists of the unveiling of 50 original artworks from renowned artists, curated by YVArts Executive Curator, Michael McCall.

The concept for The Pearly Gates Collection began in November 2014 during Miami Basel week at The Aqua Hotel in Key Biscayne, Florida, where McCall performed a curatorial event by trading outdated and worthless European Bank notes once owned by Hopps to artists in exchange for a piece of their artwork.  The exhibition was born of works where artists were asked to participate in a conceptual project in which their reward was unknown.  “This four-year project commences a three-decade long mentorship with Walter Hopps,” stated McCall.  “During that time, I observed him building exhibitions of what he felt had value, without seemingly being concerned with money.  The Pearly Gates Collection is a cross-section of contemporary art, built in a manner that he might assemble an exhibition.