Desert Blooms with Color: Butterfield Youth Find Healing Through Art -

This summer, amid the sunbaked stillness of the Anza-Borrego Desert, something quietly beautiful took root. A team from the Ilan-Lael Foundation, founded by the late artist and visionary James Hubbell, journeyed each week to the remote Butterfield Community to bring art — and with it, connection, creativity, and healing — to local youth. What started as a brain storming session on how to keep arts access open to isolated communities soon grew into a robust community project.

Led by Ilan-Lael’s Arts Program Coordinator Mati Moon, the Butterfield Summer Arts Program blended artistic exploration with social-emotional learning. Each Friday, students gathered at the community clubhouse for four hour hands-on workshops in watercolor, ink, clay, mosaics, copper, photography, paper mache and sculpture — paired with Social Emotional Learning lessons from Virginia McNall, who teaches SEL to Julian students through the school year as part of the Julian Pathways Team. It was art, yes — but it was also mentorship, collaboration, and care.

Local support came in many forms: Shalom Covert, a teacher from Spencer Valley, helped guide the sessions, and community member and artist Aki Greene offered steady support throughout. Meanwhile, Julian Beer Company generously donated 57 pizzas over the course of the program, turning lunch into another gesture of love.The season culminated on August 8th with a vibrant student showcase at the Julian Library — a testament to what can happen when creativity is met with opportunity.

Pizza provided by Julian Beer Co. Photo by Mati Moon

For those who missed it, the artwork is now on display at the Santa Ysabel Art Gallery through August 31 as part of their larger Kidz Art Show, open Thursdays – Mondays 11-5.Funded by the Prebys Foundation’s Healing through the Arts grant, this initiative also provides weekly no-cost stained glass studio classes for teens in the Julian, Warner Springs, and Borrego areas taught by Cindy Mushet-Shriver at the Ilan-Lael Studios. Ilan-Lael Foundation is adding a ceramics course to this program this fall, co-taught by Ben Gadbois and Mati Moon. For more information or to enroll, contact: programs@ilanlaelfoundation.org.

Special thank you to Mati Moon, Art Programs Coordinator and the program Instructors Aki Greene, Virginia McNall, Shalom Covert, Cindy Shriver, and Garrett Goodwin.

This program was made possible through their support and a generous grant from the Prebys Foundation.