About the Foundation

In 1998, Purifoy’s representative and colleague of many years, Sue A. Welsh, suggested to Noah Purifoy the importance of preserving his Outdoor Desert Art Museum of Assemblage Sculpture in Joshua Tree. The following year, the Noah Purifoy Foundation (NPF) was formally established as a 501(c)3 non-profit private foundation.

NPF’s mission is to preserve and maintain the site Noah Purifoy developed in Joshua Tree, California as a permanent cultural center and sculpture park open to the public; to promote public recognition and appreciation for the values that Noah Purifoy’s work as artist and educator has embodied; and to pursue these goals in a manner that protects Noah Purifoy’s contribution as an artist and educator.

The primary activities of the Noah Purifoy Foundation are to:

• Preserve and maintain Noah Purifoy's existing works of art

• Maintain the 10-acre Noah Purifoy Desert Art Museum of Assemblage Sculpture for public engagement, tours and educational programs

• Provide an arts educational experience to urban middle school students through our Urban Arts Initiative program

• Provide curatorial assistance giving visitors a coherent explanation of the desert museum project, its development, its relationship to the story of America during Noah's lifetime and the recognition of Noah Purifoy as a world leader in the genre of assemblage art

• Organize Purifoy’s papers and develop research opportunities for national and international artists and scholars to review his lifetime oeuvre