A part of Coachella Fest came to Joshua Tree Tuesday. Made from white and gray Portuguese marble, The Party God—a statue of a cool cat wearing sunglasses and holding a chilled beverage can—was placed on a 10-acre vacant lot in north Joshua Tree owned by Niki and Simon Haas. The Haas brothers are internationally acclaimed artists and furniture designers, who were commissioned to create a sculpture for Coachella Fest. Niki Haas said the brothers were under a short schedule to create the massive statue. “It took a team of 20 people working on it pretty much 18-hour days, for two-and-a-half months.” And then the statue had to be shipped from Portugal to the United States in three shipping containers, and then transported by three semis from New York to California.
Visitors who watched the statue be installed Tuesday couldn’t help but smile and be amused by The Party God. Haas said that was the response he and his brother were trying for. “The message is the idea of happiness. It’s very simple: happiness is worth pursuing and worth paying respect to.”
When Coachella Fest ended Sunday, brothers didn’t want to haul the statue back to their home in Los Angeles. They thought the statue would be a great fit in Joshua Tree. And so the 98,000-pound statue, pedestal, and steps were hauled to the brothers’ newly purchased property in Joshua Tree on three semi trailers, where the statue was re-assembled on a cement foundation on site. “That’s why we bought the property in Joshua Tree; we’re fans of Joshua Tree. And we’ve been looking at and buying property in Joshua Tree anyway, so it was just a good excuse.”
Haas said the statue may leave later this year. “There’s a possibility it may do a museum tour, but it will come back.” Until then, The Party God watches over south Joshua Tree from its pedestal near the national park.
