Noah Purifoy Foundation

We were amazed at this place. And even more impressed to get the pamphlet explaining just who Noah Purifoy was. To know that he was one of the country’s most profound assemblage sculptors and that his work can be seen in Museums in Washington DC and Los Angeles. This is a must see if your in this area. We enjoyed it immensely. Make sure you have a camera, your going to want to take lots of pictures.

I have a thing for open-​air environment museum and Noah Purifoy’s Site is near the place we stayed at so we decided to check it out!
It said it opens around 9am, seven days a week. Arrived exactly at 9am but seems like no one came out of the little house and remove the little closed sign, so we just walked in and explore.
Purifoy’s Junk Dada is also an exhibit in LACMA: He is also one of the founding directors of the Watts Towers in Los Angeles.
Some of his artworks can be easily interpret but some are hard to convey.
But for most part, there are many interesting stories, anecdotes, and related experiences tied into his art pieces.
I love his «White House» piece and the assemblage of toilets and televisions.
Overall, a great place to check out! One of the most visited around Joshua Tree.
It is ten acres of land full of large-​scale sculptures mainly built from junked materials!
Self-​guided tour with brochures provided right near the entrance – they also box for donations/​tips.

Noah Purifoy’s artwork is amazing. Letting nature take over his permanent installations is a pretty cool idea. We came here in June and the weather wasn’t that bad. My girlfriend took me here and I had no idea what I was walking into, literally. It’s a great place to take photos and we took tons. I like how random the artwork is because I feel like its the same way my mind works, just a bunch of mess somehow put together: p
We went to see his LACMA exhibit shortly after seeing this and it doesn’t compare to a sterile environment. So you HAVE to go out here and experience what it would be like if Mad Max had to do an art project. It’s an unforgettable experience since you’re in this crazy environment surrounded by obscure sculptures.

I mean, you’re out here, why not stop and take a look? We took several photos and walked our dog through the random installations. Not far off the beaten track and we were the only ones there yesterday (while we visited). Was sort of cool, worth a stop given it’s close proximity to the park.

This outdoor museum is Outrageously Amazing. It’s so unique! I adore this place. It has a variety of different scene /​art for all types of people’s taste. && to top it off It’s free admission

This is a great place to check out for all the art lovers heading to Joshua Tree! The space hosts a huge collection of sculptures made of found objects and random artifacts. You can spend a good hour here exploring the different pieces he’s created and taking pics. We were the only ones there for awhile which was a little eerie yet it was great to place the place to ourselves. For anyone looking for the quirky/​funky art stop while in Joshua Tree this is the place.

The address on here took me right to the place, so follow it!
Joshua Tree is such a fun town and this is another reason why I like it so much.
AWESOME. RANDOM. QUIRKY. FOUND OBJECT. ART.
They have brochures at the front so you can read about the different pieces. I went with a couple friends and we did a really fun photo shoot here. It’s the perfect backdrop. We spent a good 2 hours here, and we didn’t even see everything. Perfect place to come in the winter since i’m sure it’s boiling in the summer time.
Thank you, Noah Purifoy.

Super interesting art site. Extremely inspiring. If you’re in Joshua Tree and have never been here, it’s a must-​visit place. However, be careful about where you step — the pieces are worn down and very rickety.

Love this place! It’s a great place to take friends who are visiting or have never been. Also just a fun place to explore anytime

A must for art lovers! Plan on spending 1 – 2 hours exploring this massive collection of found object art sculptures. Many you can walk into and through. Take your camera.
WARNING. Keep your eyes and ears open. We saw a rattlesnake in the Carousel. Luckily he gave a warning rattle and we quickly got out before he struck.

So grateful I had a friend that recommended this to me when he heard I was visiting Joshua Tree. Such a cool place to visit on your way in/​out of the park.
Essentially a bizarre sculpture garden out in the middle of nowhere. You really just have to go see for yourself…

many of my favorite pieces are on loan to LA, right now. brought one of my kids to see it while we were in town.
he loved it.
thanks for keeping art alive out here.

I’m struggling with this review. On one hand, the Noah Purifoy installation is great — there are many diverse pieces that are wonderful examples of junk, or found, art. That is, sculptures comprising an assortment of everyday objects (junk) arranged and constructed to make various statements about society and the world. Whatever Mr. Purifoy was passionate about.
On the other hand, I often have a hard time relating to this kind of art. I often just don’t get it. Might be the engineer in me. Noah Purifoy’s work embodies that kind of art.
So, bottom line — if you like this kind of art, you’ll probably be entranced by the installation. If you don’t, then maybe it will bore you.
You also can look at the various pieces for what they were constructed from. Purifoy used a lot of interesting junk. The engineer in me likes that.

Wonderful landscape, full of terrific wit, anger, creativity. As for those who don’t care for it: «There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.» — Leonardo da Vinci.

Don’t bother… We read the reviews about this place that made it sound interesting. However, after slogging my way to this place, I have no idea what those reviewers were smoking, snorting, injecting, or popping. This ‘attraction’ is well off the beaten path outside of Joshua Tree, CA.
When we finally found it (Garmin didn’t do well with the incorrect spelling of the street name that is shown on many web sites), the outdoor museum was underwhelming (and I mean that in the kindest of ways!) Hmmm, a bidet turned into a water fountain?! WTF.

Must see in Joshua Tree. Delightful 10 acres of assemblage sculpture by Noah Purifoy, founder of the California Arts Council and the Watts Towers Arts Center in Los Angeles. Noah moved to Joshua Tree in 1989 to use this large area for his inspirations. He worked freely with all kinds of materials and at every possible scale. He has created a unique public art experience. Don’t miss it.

You’ll like this place if you’re into odd roadside attractions, art cars and the like.
Ignore any directions you’ve seen in previous reviews, they give you much more complex directions that you need. Here’s how to get to the Noah’s sculpture garden:
From Highway 62 in Joshua Tree (city, not national park):
1) Turn North at the stoplight on Sunburst (the sign indicates it’s a circle, but that’s only if you go South).
2) In about three miles the road should turn to gravel where you should proceed for an additional mile until the road ends in a «T» intersection. Turn right at the T onto Aberdeen (paved road).
3) You should run into a stop sign about a mile down the road… continue past the stop sign until the point where the pavement ends. At this point, turn left onto Center.
4) Go one block and then turn right on Blair. The sculpture garden will be on your left a block or so down that road.

This place is super cool. A little off the beaten path so don’t think your gps is steering you wrong. There is so much to see. The lot is actually quite big and there is so much for you to feast your eyes on. Totally worth the drive from central IE. You must add the place to you desert road trip. Loved it!

This place is so unique. If you love modern art, if you love the desert, stranger things, this is a great place to visit. We enjoyed strolling around, discovering wonderful sculptures, very diverse with the desert as a backdrop.
Noah Purifoy is a huge outdoor museum. It was windy when we went, but we still spent at least an hour looking around at all the sculpture this wonderful artist created from found and recycled objects, but not only.
I’m grateful that people like him exist, that places like this one exist.
There’s a map at the entrance with the location of the sculptures and the meaning of them.
Noah moved from LA to Joshua Tree in 1989. During the past 13 years he has filled the 10-​acres of desert land with his sculptures.
This place looks bigger than I thought based on Unilocal photos. But I’m grateful to my fellow Unilocalers for directions. Follow the directions from other reviews and you won’t get lost. The last part of the trip, the unpaved roads, it’s just 2 of them, short. You could either walk (it’s close) or drive shortly, we have a sensitive sedan (city car) and it was OK. Just a few other visitors around, there were moments when we were by ourselves. We even saw a few cute desert rabbits.
This outdoor museum creates such different world. It’s free to visit. You have no excuse to avoid it if you’re in the area and you’re looking for an interesting, unique activity.
For us, visiting Noah Purifoy is an experience we’ll always cherish.

I visited today and was the only one there. Arriving at the site, as other reviewers mentioned, it is quite eerie. I really didn’t want to linger to long there as it is pretty much in the middle of nowhere without a soul in sight.
Worth the short trip there from Joshua Tree or Pioneertown — the entire site is quite interesting as the installations set in the middle of the desert adds to the the experience of standing among waste turned to art.
Highly recommended.