Patricia Vernhes is the Programming and Development Director at the Hi-Desert Cultural Center, an education, visual, and performing arts non-profit organization started in Joshua Tree, CA in 1964. She is also a multi-disciplinary artist and a composer. Born in Poland at the dawn of martial law, Vernhes grew up touring with her step father’s widely known punk rock band during some of Eastern Europe’s most radical turns in modern history. As a teenager she moved to London, where she studied contemporary music, worked as a solo artist, went on to form numerous bands, and collaborated on over twenty film soundtracks. Since her move to Joshua Tree in 2012, her work has been an ongoing conversation between the environment and memory through sound, painting, sculpture, film, and found objects often produced and exhibited on the land she stewards. She is an Ayurveda Yoga Therapist, a Hatha Yoga and meditation teacher, and a sound therapy practitioner exclusively trained at The Integratron. She is also one half of Summa, an experimental audio project alongside her husband, music producer Nicolas Vernhes.