'Taffy' Installation Planned In Palm Desert

PALM DESERT, CA — A lot of Taffy could be coming to a Palm Desert park.

On Thursday, Palm Desert City Council will review a 10-year artwork loan agreement for a work titled "Taffy" by Canadian artist Stephanie Lin. If approved, Taffy will be installed for a decade at Civic Center Park, 43900 San Pablo Ave.

Taffy is no small thing. The work comprises five brightly colored vertical towers, ranging from 25 to 50 feet tall. Each is built with lightweight, metal framing wrapped in a translucent, scalloped-mesh metal fabric. The footprint needed for the installation is approximately 50 feet by 75 feet, according to city documents.

The loan agreement is with Goldenvoice, not Lin. Here's why: Goldenvoice commissions large-scale, interactive artworks for its annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio. (Goldenvoice is the festival promoter and producer.) Lin's Taffy was selected, among many other works, for the 2025 event. After each festival, select artworks are made available for public exhibition in the Coachella Valley. Taffy is among them.

Curated by Raffi Lehrer of Public Art Company in collaboration with Goldenvoice Art Director Paul Clemente, the 2025 artworks installed at the music festival explored themes of movement, illusion, and impermanence.

If the city approves the agreement, Public Art Company would oversee — and the city would pay for — the transport, installation, and maintenance of Taffy, while Goldenvoice would retain ownership of the work.

The city would be responsible for site preparation at Civic Center Park, including landscaping, lighting, foundation, and benches.

In total, the city would pay approximately $300,000 to house Taffy at the park for 10 years, according to city documents.

Among other things, Taffy could boost tourism in the region, but the City Council might say no thanks to the installation. If it does, city staff is expected to ask the council for direction "on maintaining collaboration with Goldenvoice and The Public Art Company to pursue future artwork," according to city documents.

The regular session of Thursday's Palm Desert City Council meeting begins at 4 p.m., Council Chamber, City Hall, 73-510 Fred Waring Drive. Click here to see the full meeting agenda.