Join the Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce, Palm Springs Mayor, Robert Moon, and leaders from Desert AIDS Project as they celebrate the opening of a new art gallery with an altruistic purpose.

Gallery 500, located in the Five Hundred building on South Palm Canyon, was inspired by the building’s owner, John Monahan, and Valerio Iovino, Associate Director of Personal Development and Wellness for Desert AIDS Project (DAP). Iovino had been looking for a gallery where he could showcase some of his clients' artwork, which is part of the DAP mission of assisting clients in finding jobs—many of whom are HIV+ men who have been on disability and have not worked in years.

"The arrangement is that we give over the majority of the space to artists from DAP, then have one featured artist all the time," says Monahan. The DAP artists' exhibits will be staggered so there will be new works in the gallery every couple weeks and the featured artist will rotate out every two to three months. The total number of artists will vary depending upon what is offered by each artist, but the gallery's goal is to maintain a balance of different artistic styles.

"All of the artists are very excited and grateful for this amazing opportunity," says Iovino. "Their confidence and overall well-being have improved tremendously.”

Gallery 500, The Five Hundred, 500 South Palm Canyon Drive, 760-864-6500, the500ps.com, info@the500ps.com