The Palm Springs Walk of Stars will honor Architecture & Design Curator, Preservationist, Civic Leader and long time Palm Springs resident, Sidney Williams, with the 419th Star Dedication Ceremony. The star dedication ceremony will be held as part of the Modernism Week Fall Preview and will take place on Friday, October 20, 2017 at 2:00 p.m. at the Palm Springs Art Museum Architecture and Design Center, Edwards Harris Pavilion located at 300 South Palm Canyon Drive. The ceremony is open to the public and the media.
Sidney Williams’ story is one of inspiration and tenacity, one that illustrates the power of pursuing your dreams. Born in Vancouver, B.C . and now a naturalized U.S. citizen, she has lived in Palm Springs for more than 40 years. After having met and married Erik Williams, now a retired ophthalmologist, they soon moved to Palm Springs. They raised two children, a daughter Erin, and son Brian.
Sidney Williams joined the Palm Springs Art Museum staff as Director of Education and Public Programs in 1994 and then served as curator of architecture and design from 2003 to July May 2016. She was the founding curator of the Architecture and Design Center which opened in 2014 after the 1961 Santa Fe Federal Savings and Loan building underwent an historic adaptive reuse rehabilitation. She stepped down from Curator in order to retire but was convinced to stay on staff for another year as Head of Docents until May 2017.
Her curatorial projects include co-curating with Dr. Lauren Bricker, Steel and Shade: The Architecture of Donald Wexler (2011, with catalogue) and a retrospective, accompanied with a catalogue, of the museum’s architect entitled, An Eloquent Modernist: E. Stewart Williams, Architect, 2014. Currently, Sidney is an exhibition advisor for the Getty Los Angeles/Latin America exhibition, In Search of Living Architecture: Albert Frey and Lina Bo Bardi which opened in September 2017.
As a long-time community leader, Sidney served on the City of Palm Springs Historic Site Preservation Board for six years, three years as chair. As a board member of Modernism Week for eight years, she was part of the team who developed and produced the multi-faceted programming.
Among her career achievements are several notable awards: In February 2015 Sidney received an honorary membership in the AIA, Desert Chapter; was honored at the UCLA Architecture and Urban Design, 50th Anniversary Celebration, Palm Springs Modern Architecture Advocates, in 2016; received the DOCOMOMO Preservation Award for the rehabilitation of the Architecture and Design Center, 2015 and the 2016 Palm Springs Modern Committee Lifetime Achievement Award. Currently she lectures on architecture, most recently at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in London. She holds a BA in art history from the University of British Columbia, Canada and a MA in art history from UCLA.
“We are very proud to honor Sidney Williams with a star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars” said Bob Alexander, President of the Palm Springs Walk of Stars.