Mustang: An Eldorado Icon

MUSTANG

AN ELDORADO ICON

BY SOFIA ABBIATI

If you visited Eldorado Polo Club or Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2022, you experienced the towering 27 x 44-foot Mustang sculpture that runs proudly along the northwest side of Field 1. Mustang is the work of DKLA Design, founded and run by Don Kennell and Lisa Adler. Working together, Don leads design and fabrication, while Lisa focuses on community engagement. The result? Wonderful public art that is enjoyed by countless people, including members and guests at Eldorado.

PUBLIC ART

The partnership between Goldenvoice, the Coachella festival, and Don and Lisa began in 2013. Event organizers put out an open call for artwork to be featured on the festival grounds. Excited by the prospect of having their work displayed at a world-renowned venue, Don and Lisa submitted a large piece of finished work, and it was accepted right away. Following the event, Goldenvoice purchased the piece from Don and Lisa and kept it on the grounds for the following season. Since then, DKLA has created seven unique pieces for the Coachella festival.

Don and Lisa love being part of the annual event and creating pieces that are enjoyed and appreciated by the thousands of festival attendees: “Our designs draw people in and develop a relationship that connects the viewer to the place and the art, which becomes a part of a person’s experience. This

symbiosis between the location, the artwork and viewer is significant. It is the goal of public art: to bring art into peoples’ lives.”

As part of an ongoing effort of community-building, the Coachella festival contributes to La Quinta as well as other cities in the surrounding area, and three of the seven DKLA sculptures have been donated thus far. In La Quinta, you can experience DKLA’s large Roadrunner, Road Trip, at the roundabout at Jefferson and 52nd Avenue; in Indio, the Yard Dog sculpture resides in a park off 48th Avenue; and in Coachella, Big Bear welcomes visitors to Shady Lane Park off Harrison Street.

FROM THE GROUND UP

DKLA takes a synergistic approach in planning, designing, and building their installations. The process is extremely collaborative and begins with preliminary drawings that lead to a chosen animal. A focus on much-loved animals that are native to the desert and to California inspires their work: “We want each piece to bring people heart.”

The Coachella festival gives Don and Lisa artistic license with each piece, making only one request each subsequent year: to make the next piece even bigger than the last! “The horse sculpture seemed like the next logical next step to us. The horse plays a significant role in human history and is a beloved symbol of the west,” suggests Lisa and Don, who also intended the sculpture to honor the polo ponies that share the grounds with festival goers.

While most polo ponies are of thoroughbred origin, DKLA’s sculpture was modeled after an American mustang horse. The entire process from planning to completion of Mustang took the DKLA team four months. A large crew consisting of Don and five others built the sculpture in pieces

Big Bear sculpture, image courtesy of Don Kennell & Lisa Adler

Road Trip sculpture in La Quinta, image courtesy of the City of La Quinta

in their shop in New Mexico. They chose to use steel, because it is a material that tells the story of the strength of the horse and reflects the palate of the desert sun and its surroundings.

A week before delivery was scheduled to Coachella, Don and Lisa were informed that the festival had been cancelled due to Covid-19. So they decided to erect Mustang at their home studio until the festival was rescheduled. In the end, the DKLA team was grateful to have this time to enjoy their creation before passing it on to the rest of the world! The sculpture is one of both Don and Lisa’s favorite pieces.

CLUB ICON

Alongside the many structural challenges in the fabrication process, DKLA felt additional pressure to deliver a horse sculpture that would earn the respect of the polo and equine community. And their efforts met with success!

Mustang is already an icon at Eldorado. Members and guests, young and old, are drawn to the impressive structure. “You can see the sculpture from almost anywhere at the club. But once you get close to it, you really experience its character and the detail involved,” shares Andrea Salas, Marketing & Events Director. Salas also suggests that Mustang has become a destination of its own: it’s a popular spot for photos, an easy place to meet up with visitors, and a great place to catch some shade on a hot day.

At the opposite end of Eldorado Field 1 resides another of DKLA’s creations: RamJam. And while the impressive ram sculpture also has a loyal fan base, it seems that Mustang has stolen this desert community’s heart.

Ramjam at Eldorado Polo Club, image courtesy of Don Kennell & Lisa Adler

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