The museum collection is a bit strange. It's VERY eclectic. I am never sure if it's an art museum, natural history or museum of local history. I guess all three, although I feel it would be clearer if they focused on being one thing and not a little bit of everything.

The art collection is good. They have some Chagall, Chihuly and my favorite two Duane Hanson sculptures. These are the sculptures that look lifelike of everyday people. The best one sits near the front door and is an older overweight tourist couple sitting on a bench. We have been a bunch of times, but every time I still expect them to move.

The museum also has exhibits on local earthquakes, Indian life in the desert and desert wild animals. It then also has the collections of George Montgomery and William Holden. These are a bit odd, as they have set up rooms of their homes in the museum. First, I don't think of Montgomery and Holden as BIG movie stars, and I am not sure why I would find what their dining room looked like as museum-worthy.

They also have some exhibits that rotate, like a great one on myths about desert animals and a wonderful exhibit on black-and-white photography. A few of their modern shows have been a little over the top - like one of thousands of jars filled with paper scraps.

They have a great little cafe downstairs and tables outside. The lobby gift shop is great for local books and gift items from Palm Springs. The museum connects to the Annenberg Theater, which brings a lot of big names to the desert.

The museum is closed on Mondays and the fee is $7.50 to get in. More information can be found at: Palm Springs Museum - it will show you what is happening here during your visit.

I may sound a bit down on the museum and I am not, it's a great place to spend a few hours on your visit. If nothing else, if you want to escape the midday heat and have your pool fill. My only complaint is that it tries to be too many things and lacks focus. This is a great place to hang out and get out of the sun!

Third floor had Mexican pottery with items from Western Mexico. My sister pointed out that the figurines were easily sexed due to the phallus on the male figurine, and the vulva on the female figurine.

The second floor was a mish-mash of stuff. There was one section organized as Native American baskets, with work from Apache, Cahuilla, and other tribes. There was a large collection of George Montgomery work (paintings, furniture, and movie posters of him). There was a science section with live desert tortoises and information regarding tortoises and their habitat. There were other live desert animals that were in cages and information regarding them. There was also a small section on the first desert people. There was the work of Berkeley artist Deborah Oropallo that was extremely contemporary. Lastly, there was a bunch of furniture from art collector William Holden's home that was put into a section. This particular section was filled with furniture from China, Tibet, Thailand, Ethiopia, Nigeria, India, Greece, Egypt, and the Middle East. I wish this area was organized better, but it appeared that it was organized according to the way it was set up in his house by room.

The first floor was filled with Mexican art. Early works of Jose Orozco, Diego Rivera, and David Siquieros. There was also an architectural photo gallery.

I thought we would be in and out of the museum in less than two hours, but we got there around 2:30pm and stayed until they kicked us out of the museum at 5pm. We even got in for $3.50 each with our student IDs.