Agua Caliente Cultural Museum
Section 14 The Untold Story
Palm Springs, CA • opened 2025

Section 14 The Untold Story unfolds around a central theater that suggests the structure of a home. The film at the center of the exhibition showcases tribal elders who recall life on Section 14 and the struggles their families and community endured. The exhibition presents artifacts and evidence drawn from local, state, and national archives that show how private interests worked to take the land and deny the rights of the Agua Caliente people.

The land that is Section 14 includes the sacred Agua Caliente Hot Mineral Spring that provided their ancestors with water for drinking, bathing, and healing. Amid growth and development, the land and the water became a site of contention. The exhibition depicts the transition from a narrative of oppression to one of empowerment, demonstrating how the Agua Caliente people reclaimed their autonomy through advocacy and legal means.

Developed with Picnic Design. Red Cape Studio was hired to design the physical layout and structures for the exhibition.