Article announcing Modernism Week's tenth celebration in Palm Springs. Published in the January issue of Desert Charities News.

1. Page 46 Desert Charities News – desertcharities.com January/February/March 2015
www.desertaidsproject.com
M
odernism Week’s signature February event will
take place February 12-22, 2015, celebrating
ten years of events highlighting midcentury
modern design, architecture, art, fashion and culture in
the greater Palm Springs area.
The 11-day festival features more than 180 exciting events including
the 15th annual Modernism Show & Sale, films, lectures, Premier Double
Decker Architectural Bus Tours, nightly parties and live music, walking
and bike tours, a keynote address by designer Todd Oldham, tours of
Palm Springs Art Museum’s new Architecture and Design Center, vintage
fashion, classic cars, garden tours, a vintage travel trailer exhibition, and
much more.
Modernism Week
Celebrates Ten Years
in Palm Springs
Philanthropic Side of Organization’s
Preservation Efforts Support Local
Neighborhood Groups
by Cindy Duffy Photos: David A. Lee
The area’s captivating desert modern neighborhoods and midcentury
residences, so abundant and beautifully preserved, have enabled
Modernism Week to become one of the most popular and internationally
recognized architecture and design festivals in the world. During the past
ten years, neighborhood and home tours have helped to fuel Modernism
Week’s growth; however, it is not widely known that Modernism Week
assists local neighborhood organizations by funding their own preservation
efforts and other community projects.
More than $219,000 of revenue
generated by neighborhood
tours during Modernism Week in
February 2014 was given back to
each community, and a special
tour during October’s Fall Preview
benefited the Palm Springs
Neighborhood Involvement
Committee – an all-volunteer
service group comprised of and
representing 35 officially certified
neighborhood organizations in
Palm Springs.
Examples of how the funds
from upcoming Modernism
Week tours in February 2015 will
be used include new midcentury
clubhouse furniture for Seven
Lakes Country Club, refreshing
the folded plate carport roofs at
Park Imperial South, and several
neighborhoods plan to add
signage and convert to more
drought-tolerant landscaping.
Vista Las Palmas and Racquet
Club Estates support local schools
and charities, and revenues
from Sandpiper tours will fund
programs at the Palm Springs

2. Page 47January/February/March 2015 Desert Charities News – desertcharities.com
www.bikramyogapalmdesert.com
& 2/19-22) unveiling another fabulous midcentury
residence exclusively during Modernism Week.
The City of Palm Springs is the Presenting Sponsor of
Modernism Week, and all events are open to the public.
For a complete list and to purchase tickets, please visit
modernismweek.com.
About Modernism Week:
Modernism Week is a California 501(c)(3) non-profit
organization. Modernism Week is also a charitable
organization, providing scholarships to local Palm
Springs students pursuing college educations in the
fields of architecture and design; as well as giving grants
to local and state preservation organizations for their
efforts to preserve modernist architecture throughout
the state of California.
Modernism Week’s Mission:
The mission of Modernism Week is to celebrate and
foster appreciation of midcentury architecture and
design, as well as contemporary thinking in these fields,
by encouraging education, preservation and sustainable
modern living as represented in Palm Springs.
Art Museum in Palm Desert, The
Galen and provide a new student
scholarship for a Palm Desert
graduate.
“Much has happened since my
first visit to Palm Springs in 1996,”
says Mark Davis, Modernism
Week’s treasurer and leader of its
neighborhood tour program. “Sold
as a tear-down, the Kaufmann
Desert House by renowned
architect Richard Neutra has been
beautifully restored and now
garners world-wide attention. The
stunning Tramway Gas Station
was saved from demolition and
is now the lively Palm Springs
Visitor Center. I’m thrilled that
our architectural heritage is being
appreciated, and find it extremely
gratifying that we’re able to help
entire neighborhoods rediscover
and appreciate their mid-century
modern character.”
Some of the neighborhoods
that best embody the heritage and
modernist aesthetic of residential
Palm Springs include Vista Las
Palmas, El Rancho Vista Estates,
Little Araby, Indian Canyons
and Racquet Club Estates. New
neighborhood tours for 2015
include Canyon View Estates,
Tahquitz River Estates, Sunrise
Park, and Little Beverly Hills in Palm
Springs, and Tamarisk Ranchos in
Rancho Mirage.
This February, quintessentially
midcentury enclaves in the cities
of Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert
and Indian Wells will feature
prominently on Modernism
Week’s schedule with exciting
new tours and events:
• A Mod, Mod, Mod, Mod
Marrakesh (2/19) – cocktails and
dinner at the fabulous Marrakesh
Country Club Clubhouse
• William Krisel Sandpiper
House Tour and Party (2/17) –
tour remarkable homes built from
1958 to 1969 and party at the Palm
Springs Art Museum in Palm Desert
• Palm Desert Double Decker
Architectural Bus Tour (2/19 &
20) – a two-hour tour featuring
homes by Krisel, Burns, White,
Frey, Outcault, and more
• Indian Wells Signature Home
Tour and Luncheon (2/20) –
concludes at Indian Wells Golf
Resort with a light lunch and
conversation with an award-
winning architect
Additional events include the
Modernism Week Opening Night
Party: Throwback Thursday (2/12)
with music by Jason Bentley, host
of Morning Becomes Eclectic
and music director for KCRW, the
Modernism Show & Sale Preview
Reception (2/13) which provides a
sneak peak before it opens to the
general public, and the Modernism
Week Show House 2015: The
Christopher Kennedy Compound
(multiple tours daily: 2/14-18