Black Mountain College: Outsized Influence and Everyday Life

Click HERE to purchase a 'Black Mountain College All Inclusive' Ticket to attend all 5 BMC presentations and 1 workshop including box lunch for $75 (a $116 value).

Today, Black Mountain College enjoys near-legendary status as one of the most important American art schools of the 20th century. Despite constantly struggling to keep itself afloat financially, Black Mountain College (BMC) attracted a dazzling roster of students, faculty, and guests who would collectively shape the social and artistic attitudes of the United States in the second half of the 20th century. Notable long-term faculty included Josef and Anni Albers, M. C. Richards, Charles Olson, and Max Dehn; students included Ruth Asawa, Robert Rauschenberg, Cy Twombly, Dorothea Rockburne, and Michael Rumaker; and visiting faculty included Robert Motherwell, John Cage, Merce Cunningham, R. Buckminster Fuller, Jacob Lawrence, and Willem and Elaine de Kooning.

But BMC, which survived for a scant twenty-three years, was far more than just the list of its luminaries. Founded in 1933 by a group of rebellious faculty who had left Rollins College searching for academic freedom, Black Mountain stressed a self-determined, experiential education designed to “educate the student as a person and as a citizen.” From its founding in 1933 to its legal closure in 1957, BMC maintained its experimental mission and commitment to interdisciplinary education with the arts at the center. 

David Silver, author of the groundbreaking new book The Farm at Black Mountain College (Atelier Éditions 2024), goes beyond the legend of Black Mountain College to introduce the vibrant, surprising College in all its complexity and contradictions. Weaving together narratives about everyday life at BMC with the broader contours of its history, Silver presents a dynamic, inspiring, and sometimes humorous vision of the life and death of this beyond-influential college.

$18

Things To KnowAges 13 and older
This is an indoor activity
Wheelchair accessible
Parking and handicap parking available
Restrooms are available
No smoking or e-cigarettes

Important InformationThe entrance to the Annenberg Theater is located behind the Annenberg Theater Box Office, adjacent to the Palm Springs Art Museum's North Parking Lot.
Ample free public parking is available in the multi-level public garage across from the Palm Springs Art Museum.
The organizer of this event is Modernism Week Annenberg Theater Activity.

Check-in Location Annenberg Theater
Palm Springs Art Museum
101 N Museum Dr
Palm Springs, CA 92262View Map

Photo Credits: Black Mountain College Archives, Jonathan Williams {"locationAddressVisibility":"visible"}