What is it about the desert that is so captivating, particularly to the artists among us? There cannot be many places in the world where this is more evident than along Route 90, the highway that links the Dead Sea to the Red Sea. The three regional councils that line this road - Tamar, Central Arava and Hevel Eilot - are blessed with a wealth of creative souls who express the beauty of the desert in painting, sculpture, photography, ceramics and various other materials.

The Artists on Route 90 project takes advantage of the talents of the many artists living in all three regions, in order to both promote the branding of the region as associated with art and to also promote tourism to the region - while at the same time creating cooperation between three neighboring regional councils.

The project began at the beginning of the Sukkot holiday, during which time the Arava is a popular destination for domestic tourism, as the artists opened their studios to the public, both visitors to the region and local residents. On offer were diverse activities, such as photographing in the desert at dawn, arts and crafts workshops for children, and watching painters and illustrators at work.

Several of the artists on Tsukim, the Central Arava's newest settlement, worked together, particularly appealing to families with young children, who were able to learn how to build with mud, make soap, create pottery and more.
 
There are many projects in the field of the arts currently under consideration, including a third group exhibit on Sapir, an exhibit for young artists, activities for the student delegations expected from Australia and more. In addition, an "artist's hotline", a virtual information center, has been established, which collects and sends information about art-related projects in Israel and abroad, at omanut@arava.co.il .

Partnership 2000 was one of the first supporters of the arts projects, and we hope to see our Australian friends among visitors to the artist studios in the future.