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The Palm Springs Preservation Foundation (PSPF) is proud to announce
Wexler Weekend, a three-day event in Palm Springs that will  honor renowned modernist architect Donald A. Wexler. The weekend will kick-off on Friday, January 22nd with Design OnScreen’s film Journeyman Architect: The Life and Work of Donald Wexler. Saturday the 23rd (which is also Don Wexler’s 84th birthday) will include a five-hour house tour and an evening fundraiser at the Wexler-designed Leff/Florsheim House (1957).

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Wexler Weekend will continue on Sunday the 24th with an event at the Wexler Steel Development Houses in the Racquet Club Estates neighborhood.

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A 40-page tribute journal chronicling Wexler’s career will be released in conjunction with Wexler Weekend. The journal will be authored by Patrick McGrew, an architect who has written extensively about California’s historic architecture. McGrew will draw upon extensive personal interviews with Wexler and will have full access to the architect’s archives and photos. PSPF has engaged Wexler’s son, graphic artist Gary Wexler, to do the layout and design of the journal.

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The architecture of Donald Wexler, FAIA, embodies the best qualities of mid-century modern architecture. Straightforward, clean, never excessive, his buildings turn the essence of their structural systems into elegant, creative designs. Though his career has been spent almost entirely in Palm Springs, California, Wexler’s work has been rediscovered in recent years. He is associated prominently with the revival of interest in Palm Springs Modern architecture since the 1990s. He is also the subject of the recent documentary "Journeyman Architect: The Life and Work of Donald Wexler" by the award-winning director Jake Gorst. He has also been featured in the books Palm Springs Weekend, and Julius Shulman: Palm Springs.
 
 
nullRoyal Hawaiian Estates designed by Donald Wexler
 
Some of his best known buildings include the prefabricated steel houses for the Alexander Company in Palm Springs (1962), the Palm Springs Airport (1966), Spa Hotel Bath House (1959, with William Cody and Richard Harrison), the Dinah Shore house (1963), and the Canyon Country Club Clubhouse (1962), as well as other commercial, institutional and public buildings in the Palm Springs area.
 
 
Wexler (b. 1926) was raised in Minneapolis. After serving in the Navy during World War II and graduating from the University of Minnesota in 1950, he moved to Los Angeles, where he worked for Richard Neutra, one of the pioneers of Southern California Modernism. In 1951 he moved to Palm Springs to work for William Cody. In 1953 he partnered with Richard Harrison, creating the firm of Wexler & Harrison. That partnership dissolved amicably in 1962, and Mr. Wexler formed Donald A. Wexler Associates in 1963.
 

PSPF’s mission is to educate and promote public awareness of the importance of preserving the historic resources and architecture of Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley area.

For additional information and updates, along with free membership, visit us at www.pspreservationfoundation.org.

Contact:

PSPF Board Member

Richard “Kip” Serafin

(760) 904-0200

 

Wexler Weekend Event Fact Sheet

Palm Springs, California

• Friday, January 22, 2010

Design OnScreen’s film Journeyman Architect: The Life and Work of Donald Wexler at the Camelot Theater

• Pre-party before film

Question and Answer after film

Saturday, January 23, 2010 (Don Wexler’s 84th birthday!)

Champagne Jazz Brunch

• Leon’s Bar & Grill in the Indian Canyons Golf Club (formerly the Canyon

Country Club Clubhouse designed by Wexler in 1963). Entertainment by the Palm Springs High School Jazz Orchestra

A five-hour house tour of Wexler designed properties

An evening cocktail fundraiser at the Wexler-designed Florsheim House (1957)

• Sunday, January 24, 2010

“Steel Some Time” at the Wexler Steel Development Houses in the Racquet Club Estates neighborhood

Book signing of Wexler tribute journal by author-architect Patrick McGrew at the Just Fabulous bookstore