After a smash debut in 2024 and continued success in 2025, Desert Design Week is back.
Its spring edition runs April 16-23 and features the theme Collected in Dialog. The week-long celebration brings together design experts and enthusiasts through curated experiences and cultural programming. The theme emphasizes design as a conversation – one shaped by relationships between objects, artists and audiences rather than isolated pieces. Throughout the week, exhibitions, talks, tours and gatherings invite attendees to experience creativity as a shared, evolving dialogue.
Just two years after its launch, Desert Design Week has grown into a hotly anticipated event that highlights the region’s creative roots and evolution. Founder and creative director Ruth Price describes it as “a biannual celebration of design, art, architecture and community,” with events ranging from gallery openings and art exhibitions to home tours and artist showcases. This spring’s showing includes 14 events across the Valley, each designed to bring creatives and audiences together in meaningful ways.
One of the standout events this year is a large contemporary art exhibition and design experience at the new Kimpton Miralina Resort & Villas, which Price says will offer an immersive look at contemporary design. The week will also feature a talk from Ashley Murphy, chief marketing officer of Rare Beauty, focused on standing out in a crowded creative landscape.
“Content is kind of everywhere,” Price says. “The real question is how you don’t become ignored and lost in the shuffle.”
Attendees can also explore a home and landscaping tour featuring three properties designed by The Green Room Landscape Architecture, with two homes open for interior viewing as well. Another highlight, Collected Assembly, brings together designers and artists in a curated shopping and exhibition experience featuring collaborations, music and community interaction.
While Desert Design Week centers on design, Price emphasizes that the event’s scope extends beyond interiors or architecture. “Design doesn’t necessarily always mean just interior design,” she says. “You can be creative in all sorts of aspects – food, events, art. It really encompasses so many things.”
The event has expanded significantly since its first run. Price notes that the inaugural DDW drew about 800 attendees, while this year’s event is expected to bring in between 1,600 and 1,700 people, from the Valley and beyond.
“It’s definitely growing,” she says, pointing to larger venues and increased interest from both creatives and attendees. “It’s really about connecting with people who appreciate art and design and giving creatives a platform to showcase their work.”
