The pop-up jewelry boutique Rock and Rapture held their closing reception at La Matadora in Joshua Tree last Saturday, where they donated a check to a hard-working local charity.
When Rock and Rapture founder/curator Shahasp Valentine chose Mil-Tree as the recipient of her shop’s donation, she initially imagined the amount would be around $500. But last Saturday, after a successful two-month residency of artistic commerce at La Matadora, Valentine was able to present a check for $1000 to Cheryl Montelle, the founder of the local veteran outreach non-profit.
Montelle started Mil-Tree in 2012 to create community between veterans, active service members, and civilians; to “act as a bridge” to share experiences and creative programming to help end veteran isolation. Montelle said, “…and the interesting thing is that there is not just isolation in the veteran community, but in the whole community here, so we are constantly doing different creative projects to include everyone.” As Montelle accepted the generous donation, she gave a nod to Valentine’s business partner Barbara Koch, who is volunteering her dance expertise to Tapestries of Transformation, Mil-Tree’s most ambitious program to date. Montelle vowed the $1000 check would help fund future programming. In the meantime, Mil-Tree’s annual Live from Joshua Tree spoken word event will be taking place at the Joshua Tree Retreat Center on Saturday, January 27th.
