Aug 27, 2019
Born
in France, Marie Bobin's first experience with desert was a trip
with friends to Death Valley. It was a last minute, 'let’s get out
of LA for the weekend' kind of trip – in August. Marie says they
drove a lot, got out of the car to snap a few photos, then jumped
back into the air conditioned car.
Marie's family moved to California
when she was in her preteen years. With a background in
performing arts and producing, Marie started her career in London
with a pub theatre, producing shows for four years and then came
back to the states working with museums and cultural centers.
Though she has lived in Thailand and
London, she says she always returns to the Golden
State.
Looking for a change of pace from Los Angeles
and being self-described national park lovers, Marie and her
husband were considering areas near Yellowstone and other places.
In this episode, Marie says when
she mentioned Joshua Tree, her husband said, "The desert?!", but
after a number of short day trips out here, he started to fall in
love with the place just as Marie had. They put their house in
Topanga on the market - it sold in 10 days. Marie immediately found
work. Marie says, "The doors just kept opening, confirmation that
this is where we were supposed to be".
Moving
to the area without knowing anyone, Marie attended Kip’s book club,
2nd Saturdays in Joshua Tree and other events around town, where
she started to meet her community.
With a
background in cultural programming and consulting, Marie became
involved with local non-profits Harrison House, Joshua Tree Retreat
Center and Mil-Tree, of which she in now holds a board position.
She also met Jenny Kane, Executive Director of Arts Connection,
where the idea for applying for the National Endowment for the Arts
Big Read Grant happened.
Marie
says she immediately recognized the good work so many Morongo Basin
organizations were already doing. It was her desire to produce an
event that would support and enhance their work. Being familiar
with the NEA Big Read grant, Marie was certain it would be the
right vehicle to pull all these organizations together for one big
cultural event.
An
entire month of free events - with something for everyone - are
scheduled during September, beginning with the kick off at Mojave
Desert Land Trust Headquarters on September 7, 2019 from 9 a.m. to
1 p.m. To view and download the schedule of events, visit
Arts Connection of San
Bernardino or check out Big
Read Morongo Basin on Facebook and follow them on
Instagram @BigReadMorongoBasin.