Just in time for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, World Monuments Fund (WMF) has unveiled a list of 10 historic sites across the United States whose preservation is “essential to the richness and complexity” of the nation’s story. The sites range from colonial-era architecture and public health landmarks to early mission churches, all of which face deterioration without sustained preservation efforts, according to the organization.
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One designated site will be familiar to art history students: Black Mountain College’s Studies Building in North Carolina, where a remarkable roster of American luminaries in visual art, music, design, and performance studied and taught. Its storied alumni include postwar painting titan Robert Rauschenberg, Color Field pioneer Kenneth Noland, and celebrated wire sculptor Ruth Asawa. The college’s interdisciplinary approach drew heavily on Bauhaus ideals championed by figures such as architect Walter Gropius—who served on the school’s advisory board—and Josef and Anni Albers, architects of Black Mountain’s experimentation curriculum. It also attracted influential artists-in-residence, including avant-garde composer John Cage and choreographer Merce Cunningham, who staged one of the earliest “Happenings” there in 1952—only five years before the college officially shuttered amid financial struggles…