This fascinating exhibition explores the friendship of two women who explored and had adventures in the Southern California desert from the late 1910s through the early 30s. They both learned the art of photography and documented the stark and beautiful desert landscape as well, as the characters who inhabited it, long before the area’s abundance of golf courses and the Coachella Music Festival. Susie Keef Smith was the postmaster in the then vibrant town of Mecca, and both she and cousin Lula Mae Graves discovered a passion for making and selling postcards. This traveling exhibition from Exhibit Envoy is augmented by a sampling of A.O. Carpenter images from the Grace Hudson Museum’s collections. A talented professional photographer, A.O. traveled throughout Mendocino County in the mid to late 1800s, documenting the landscapes, industries, and people of the region.

Welcome back, physical, in-person exhibitions!

Click MUSEUM REOPENS to read more about Postcards from Mecca and the Museum’s reopening in a May 8 article from the Ukiah Daily Journal.