Palmdale has a new piece of public art to show off. The city announced a mural called “Where Childhood Meets the Horizon,” created by artist Lori Antoinette and now on display at Joshua Hills Park, located at 3110 Fairfield Ave.
The announcement came Tuesday from the City of Palmdale - Government, which identified the new work as part of Antelope Valley Walls, the regional mural initiative that the city says is sponsored in part by Visit Palmdale.
Who Is Behind the Brush
Antoinette brings a long personal history with street and wall art to the project. She earned a BA in Fine Art with an emphasis in abstract art, as she told Voyage LA in a 2018 interview, saying, “Later, I achieved a BA in Fine Art with an emphasis in abstract.” That same interview traces her start in street painting, done with chalk on pavement, to a discovery she made in Pasadena 26 years before she spoke with the outlet.
Her body of work spans paintings, portraits and wall murals, according to the same Voyage LA interview, which notes that Sol Plaza in Lancaster is home to several of her murals. That regional footprint lines up with the broader Antelope Valley Walls effort, which the article notes has placed murals across both Lancaster and Palmdale over the years.
A Program Built Over Nearly a Decade
Antelope Valley Walls began in 2016 and brings local and international artists together to create murals throughout the community, according to the Antelope Valley Press. Before taking that name, the program ran under the banner POW! WOW! Antelope Valley in 2016, 2018 and 2020, per the City of Lancaster.
The City of Lancaster's 2022 announcement described that year's installment as the program's fourth regional edition, a week-long mural event hosted by Worldwide Walls that planned to paint more than 15 murals across Palmdale and Lancaster combined, marking the event's first expansion into Palmdale. Worldwide Walls, for its part, says the program partners with the Museum of Art and History to bring international and local artists' murals to both cities.
Part of a Larger Local Push
Palmdale's investment in murals extends beyond Antelope Valley Walls. The Antelope Valley Press has reported that the city planned to create four new murals in a single year, split between two city-owned facilities and two privately owned businesses, with all four slated to be painted in October. That same reporting describes the Pelona Vista Park Small Mural Mentorship Program, which pairs an experienced mural artist with prospective artists to design and install a collective piece.
Visit Palmdale, the tourism arm now tied to the new mural's sponsorship, highlights other Antelope Valley Walls murals around the city, pointing to works found from Desert Sands Park to Manzanita Heights Park. Joshua Hills Park itself, where “Where Childhood Meets the Horizon” now lives, was developed in 1989 and sits on Fairfield Avenue off Via Del Rio, according to the City of Palmdale.
For now, the city's announcement leaves some details unaddressed, including the mural's exact dimensions and completion date. What is confirmed is the result: another entry in a mural program that has been building out Palmdale's public art scene for years, with Antoinette's latest work now anchoring Joshua Hills Park.
