Modernism Week announced that its recent 11-day festival in February 2026 and its four-day festival in October 2025 provided many opportunities for dozens of local Coachella Valley organizations and neighborhood communities to produce events that raised significant funds from ticket sales proceeds. These events included neighborhood tours, parties, and other programs that enabled the organizations to contribute to local Coachella Valley charities or to fund civic improvements with the proceeds raised by the programs. During Modernism Week – October and Modernism Week 2026, participating partner and neighborhood organizations raised $2,335,279. This includes more than $753,258 in funds raised by local neighborhood organizations from home tours and other events that benefited the neighborhood organizations.

Helping Neighborhoods and Organizations Raise Funds

Modernism Week works closely with local neighborhood organizations and residential communities to showcase the design of iconic Palm Springs residences and other architecturally significant buildings during tours of many of the city’s 52 official neighborhoods and neighboring cities. The tours provided participants with the rare opportunity to view the interiors of stunning examples of significant architectural styles (including midcentury modern) in various locations through the Coachella Valley. Most of the neighborhood organizations that organized the tours reinvested the proceeds into their neighborhoods through architectural restoration, improving infrastructure, or landscape improvements. This year, Modernism Week featured 15 tours of these neighborhood tours.

These popular tours featured approximately 175 residences, attracting more than 10,000 participants. Neighborhood and condo community tours available during Modernism Week 2026 included Alta, Andreas Hills, Canyon Estates, Casa Dorado at Indian Wells, Country Club Estates, Firebird Estates, Indian Canyons, Ocotillo Lodge, Racquet Club Estates, Royal Hawaiian Estates, Sandpiper, Sunmor Estates, Sunrise Park, Tahquitz Creek, and Vista Las Palmas. In addition, Modernism Week organized a special multi-home tour called Tour with the Author: Unseen Midcentury Desert Modern with Daniel Chavkin, a new muti-neighborhood tour that offered rare access to private residences in Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage. In 2008, photographer Daniel Chavkin began capturing some of the more discreet and off-the-beaten-path midcentury modern homes and buildings in the Palm Springs area for a book entitled Unseen Midcentury Desert Modern. This extraordinary first-ever Modernism Week home tour enabled participants to step inside the pages of Chavkin’s acclaimed book and explore six of its unique secret gems. 

“When neighborhood organizations and other communities offer tours through Modernism Week, it generates significant revenue for the community, it enables the community to showcase the best of their area to the public, and it adds social value by bringing together the many neighbors who work all year long on the tour,” said Evelyn Yardley, Modernism Week’s Neighborhood Tours Coordinator. “I often hear stories of residents who have lived in the same complex or neighborhood for years without truly knowing their neighbors until they worked together to create their tour. When a community participates in Modernism Week, it tends to create a shared purpose and a sense of connection that brings people together in a meaningful way.”

Many neighborhood organizations plan to use the money they earned to contribute to various community organizations:

·       Vista Las Palmas – This neighborhood organization has an ongoing tradition of contributing the majority of funds it raises from Modernism Week events to various community nonprofits and charities. This year’s funds will bring this overall donation amount to $100,000 over the last five years. In the past, it has contributed to the Palm Springs Unified School District Arts Program, PS-USD Shoes for Students, Palm Springs Fire Foundation, Palm Springs AIDS Memorial, and the Palm Springs Animal Shelter.

·       Racquet Club Estates – This neighborhood organization also has a longstanding commitment to supporting local charities and community initiatives. Through these contributions, it continues to demonstrate its dedication to community improvement, education, emergency relief, and neighborhood stewardship. Past donations have supported: Palm Springs Animal Shelter, FIND Food Bank, Well in the Desert, Palm Springs Navigation Center, Plaza Theatre renovation, Mizell Center (including funding toward kitchen renovations), Vista del Monte Elementary School (Amazon gift cards for classroom supplies), sponsorship for Vista del Monte teachers, relief efforts for businesses affected by the Palm Springs bombing, Los Angeles wildfire relief efforts, Boys & Girls Club, and American Red Cross, among others.

·       Sunmor Estates - Proceeds will help pay for neighborhood improvements, such as new blade signs, lighting and gravel in some public areas, and benefit the Community Food Bank at The Center, the Palm Springs Public Library, and the Palm Springs Air Museum. 

·       Sunrise Park –In the past years it has donated funds to Palm Springs Cultural Center, Palm Springs Farmer's Market, Palm Springs Library, Palm Springs Boys & Girls Club Summer Camps.

In addition to philanthropic projects, many neighborhood organizations participate in Modernism Week tours to help raise funds to support community improvements.  This year, these tours included:

·       Alta – The organization is reviewing options and will likely use the funds to improve common areas and further beautify the community.

·       Andreas Hills - Funds will be applied to creating a more sustainable landscaping plan aimed at reducing existing lawn and replacing it with landscaping that requires less water.

·       Canyon Estates - The funds will be used to refurbish and update the kitchen in the community clubhouse. 

·       Casa Dorado at Indian Wells - Proceeds will go to the continued refurbishment of the historic clubhouse, which was built in 1964 by Long Beach architects Richard L. Poper and Jess J. Jones. Casa Dorado recently earned a Historic Landmark Designation by the Indian Wells Preservation Foundation. 

·       Country Club Estates – The neighborhood organization plans to use the funds from its tour to restore of some of the original features of the complex, which include recreating the community’s unique “marshmallow” light pole globes, returning light fixtures on unit entryways to their original design, and replicating the original signage for the community. Under consideration is the creation of a plaque to recognize the community’s recent historic designation.

·       Firebird Estates - Funds will be spent on beautification of the community’s grounds including helping to pay for the conversion of green space to a more eco-friendly desertscape.

·       Ocotillo Lodge - The community will use the proceeds to continue the ongoing restoration and renovation of its historic Candlewood Room, the former elegant restaurant from when the community was a hotel. The organization plans return the space to architect William Krisel's original design intent while also making it a functional and desirable event space that will share Krisel's legacy with visitors and guests.

·       Royal Hawaiian Estates - Funds will be allocated to a range of community improvements including financing a major plumbing restoration project for the property.

·       Sandpiper - The funds will be used for historic preservation of the community including exterior repairs, restoration, and painting. The current plan is to complete the needed repairs and then repaint in a lighter color that is as close to the original design. This will restore the property close to the appearance that William Krisel intended when the homes were built. This is a large project and will require a community-wide special assessment, but the funds generated by the 2026 Modernism Week tours will significantly reduce the financial burden on home owners for the restoration and allow the organization to move forward with this much needed restoration.

·       Tahquitz Creek – This community is using funds from its tour to beautify an abandoned and overgrown lot in the community. Previous tours helped finance the start of this project, and the money raised this year will continue this unique improvement program, including establishing a designated fund for its ongoing maintenance and possibly installing a monument sign. Modernism Week events have generated the funds needed to transform a neglected space into a welcoming landscaped setting featuring new plantings, a walkway, freshly painted wall, and a new neighborhood sign.  

“This was the first Modernism Week tour our community has offered, and we were thrilled that it was so successful,” said Barbara Russo, Firebird Estates tour organizer. “Our community prides itself on offering serene, landscaped grounds that complement our striking architecture. With the money we raised during the Modernism Week tour, we can now expand our landscaping efforts and incorporate new elements, such as integrating more sustainable landscaping improvements into our overall landscape initiatives.  We would not have been able to do this without the funds generated by our successful tour.”

“Modernism Week tours and events are incredibly important to the Royal Hawaiian Estates,” said Lindy Sue Downey, tour coordinator. “They allow us to showcase the beauty, history, and unique architecture of our community while helping fund the ongoing upkeep, restoration, and preservation of this special historic property that we are so proud to call home and share with fellow midcentury enthusiasts from around the world.”

In addition to working with neighborhoods, Modernism Week, a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization, also provides the opportunity for other local organizations and charities to raise funds. A portion of ticket proceeds from official Modernism Week events that are produced by these businesses and organizations in 2025-2026 generated more than $1.1 million for various local partner organizations. Some of those organizations included: the LGBTQ+ History & Archives of the Desert, Palm Springs Historical Society, Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs Modern Committee, Palm Springs Preservation Foundation, Sunnylands, Palm Springs Cultural Center, Historical Society of Palm Desert, Preservation Mirage, the Palm Springs Public Library, and The Loving Way Foundation.

“Modernism Week has a long-standing history of helping other organizations raise funds to benefit the local community,” said William Kopelk, Modernism Week Board Chairman. “One of the most important outcomes of Modernism Week events each year is the opportunity for our neighborhood and partner organizations to raise funds to support preservation, education, civic improvements, or to reinvest back into other local charities. The tours and events produced by partner organizations also allow them to showcase their neighborhoods and organizations to national and international visitors.”

This year Modernism Week continued its partnership with the historic National Landmark Fallingwater house in Pennsylvania, designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Modernism Week underwrites the costs for a summer Preservation Intern who works directly with Fallingwater’s preservation, collections and maintenance departments. Supported by Modernism Week, this internship is open to international students participating in the ICOMOS-USA International Exchange Program. Other Modernism Week grants have been issued previously to the Aluminaire House Foundation, Docomomo Conference, Iconic Houses, Palm Springs Unified School District Foundation, and the Palm Springs Plaza Theatre Foundation.

Modernism Week top sponsors included Ferguson Home, Brizo, Dunn-Edwards Paints, Monogram, Cotino, DWR, Flor, and Natural Retreats. The City of Palm Springs was the Civic Presenting Sponsor. 

Modernism Week – October will take place October 15-18, 2026 (tickets go on sale August 1) and Modernism Week 2027 will take place February 11-21, 2027 (tickets go on sale November 1). To receive updates, visit modernismweek.com and follow it on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and X.

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About Modernism Week 

Modernism Week is a 501(c)(3) 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 organizations for their efforts to preserve modernist architecture throughout the state of California.