High Desert World: Desert Christ Park

Each town has its unique inimitable feature and I must say Desert Christ park fits the bill. It is a religious themed sculpture park in Yucca Valley created by Frank Antone Martin (1887-1961). There's not much data on the artist other than that he worked as an engineer for the aerospace industry in Southern California and lived in Inglewood. And he was also a sculptor.

Originally, he envisioned a giant Jesus sculpture for Grand Canyon but that plan ran into a snag with the National Park. He found a welcome mat in Yucca Valley, extended by a church pastor Eddie Garver who had purchased a 5 acre plot to build a Christ themed park.

In 1951, his first large white steel-reinforced Jesus sculpture made its way from Los Angeles to Yucca Valley on a truck bed. Initially, he commuted from Inglewood to Yucca Valley. He retired to Yucca Valley the following year and worked on his sculptures for next ten years until his death in 1961. So basically in the ten years he resided at Yucca Valley, when he was age 64 ~ 74, he was prodigiously productive creating these eery religious sculptures.

Arriving just before sunset one afternoon, we caught the last of the lit up vast blue sky and the scene before me was a strange conjunction of fantastic desertscape and religious expression. From the hilltop, the sweeping view of Yucca Valley below and the wide expanse of blue skies, desert trees and plants formed a stunning stage.

Next to Joshua trees, the all white pristine tall figures stood like visions evoking the scenes of Jesus and his disciples. Over the 10 years he lived and worked in Yucca Valley, he created ten scenes from the bible.

Having experienced the world engulfed in the strife and destruction of World War I and II during his life span, and working in the aerospace industry that may have been involved in weapons making or war machinery production as well as the tension of the Cold War in the 1950s, the concept of enduring peace for humanity may have been foremost in his mind. He found the answer in Jesus and the bible scenes.