About Us – Modernism Week

About Us

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 the greater Palm Springs area.

MADE DBA Modernism Week is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Palm Springs, California. EIN 27-1259579.

MODERNISM WEEK EVENTS

Our annual February event is Modernism Week, a world-class, eleven-day celebration of midcentury modern design, architecture, art, fashion, and culture in Greater Palm Springs. Modernism Week has more than 120,000 attendees each year that participate in over 350 events. Highlights of the festival include the Modernism Show, Signature Home Tours, films, lectures, Premier Double Decker Architectural Bus Tours, nightly parties, live music events, walking and bike tours, tours of Sunnylands, fashion shows, classic cars, modern garden tours, a vintage travel trailer exhibition, and more.

In addition to the events in February, Modernism Week hosts a similar four-day event in the fall called Modernism Week – October. Partner organizations collaborate to produce a “mini-Modernism Week” and kick-off the active social and recreational season in Palm Springs. This fall event offers some of the most popular tours from February as well as new adventures, talks, and parties highlighting midcentury and modern architecture throughout Greater Palm Springs.

Seasonally, from October to May, Modernism Week offers Architecture Tours by Modernism Week. In partnership with Trevor O’Donnell of PS Architecture Tours, these tours provide an intimate, in-depth look at history, modern architecture and design throughout the city of Palm Springs. The tour is a carefully curated survey of the important architectural history of the area with a personalized view into midcentury modern culture and lifestyle.

In addition to festival events and seasonal architectural tours, Modernism Week produces exclusively curated domestic and international small group architectural travel excursions. Past trips have included Havana; Mexico City; New Canaan, CT; Columbus, IN; and other architectural destinations as well as “Modernists on the Mediterranean”, a cruise that includes architecturally significant destinations.

Modernism Week is also a charitable organization, providing four-year renewable scholarships to local students pursuing college educations in the fields of architecture and design. More than $250,000 in scholarship funds have been awarded to aspiring architects and designers since the program began in 2011. Modernism Week also supports local and state preservation organizations and neighborhood groups in their efforts to preserve modernist architecture throughout the state of California.

HISTORY

The Modernism Week organization began in 2005 with a small but mighty volunteer group of passionate friends and neighbors who founded the first official three-day event in February 2006. The first “Modernism Weekend”, as it was called, followed-up on the increasing success of both the Palm Springs Modernism Show & Sale at the convention center and the annual design symposium organized by the Palm Springs Art Museum’s Architecture and Design Council. This original steering committee included a group of local design and architecture aficionados who were also curators, tour guides, art and vintage furniture dealers, historians, property owners, and architects. They collaborated with five local nonprofit organizations who ultimately created Modernism Week’s first signature event in February to showcase the world-renowned midcentury modern architecture of Palm Springs.

Among the members of the initial steering committee were representatives from the Modernism Show & Sale, Palm Springs Preservation Foundation, the Palm Springs Modern Committee, the Palm Springs Historical Society, and Palm Springs Art Museum. These local groups are the Founding Partners of Modernism Week and are still considered the prime beneficiaries of its programs. Today, more than 60 additional nonprofit organizations, businesses, and neighborhood groups collaborate with Modernism Week to help produce its tours and events.

Modernism Week became a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in 2009 and adopted the name MADE DBA Modernism Week in 2019. The board of directors, staff, consultants, and volunteers remain devoted to preserving the integrity of its mission and the high quality of Modernism Week programs.

Board of Directors

  • William Kopelk, Chairman
  • Gary Johns, Secretary
  • Frances Anderton
  • Regina Basterrechea
  • Michelle Boudreau
  • Annalisa Capurro
  • Maureen Erbe
  • Alan Hess
  • David Millbern
  • Anne Rowe

Senior Leadership Team

  • Lisa Vossler Smith, CEO
  • Alex Addrisi, Director of Partner Events
  • Sara Dawson, Director of Sponsorship
  • John Miraglia, Senior Director of Operations & Controller

Modernism Week Staff

  • Marshall Brown, Volunteer Coordinator
  • Delaney Henry, Manager of Digital Operations
  • Roy Komassa, Administrative Coordinator
  • Bert Simonis, Architectural Bus Tour Coordinator
  • Evelyn Yardley, Neighborhood Tour Coordinator

Consultants

  • Mark Davis, Theater and Travel Program Producer
  • Jesus “Chuy” Degollado, Logistics Coordinator
  • David Dixon, Creative Project Manager & CAMP Manager
  • Tom Donohue, Illuminated Twilight Bus Tour Coordinator
  • Mark Fichandler, Garden Tour Coordinator
  • Sky Lundy, Web and Technology Systems Coordinator
  • O’Bayley Communications, PR & Advertising
  • Erik Rosenow, Signature Home Tour Coordinator
  • Secret Agent, Digital & Social Media
  • Robbie Waldman, CAMP Coordinator
  • David Webb, Lecture & Film Facilitator