The Black Mountain College Studies Building has been named one of 10 historic places in the United States facing “urgent preservation needs,” a recognition that comes ahead of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
At an event Tuesday afternoon, organizers announced that the building has been named to Irreplaceable America, the World Monuments Fund list of sites that have influenced the country’s unique history.
Writer Amanda Fortini, who authored a 2022 New York Times magazine piece about Black Mountain College, said the small, experimental arts school nurtured a long list of some of America’s most creative talents, including composer John Cage and architect Buckminster Fuller.
“It was not just a genius cluster of like-minded souls, of bright, ambitious, talented and sometimes peculiar people who wanted to be together and maybe couldn’t be anywhere else,” Fortini said at the event. “It created genius. The Studies Building is important because it is a physical artefact of that legacy.”
The minimalist building, which sits on Lake Eden, was designed by architect A. Lawrence Kocher. It was built by students at Black Mountain College in the 1940s and is an example of International Style architecture.
The school closed in 1957, and its former campus is now home to Camp Rockmont, a Christian boys’ summer camp.
Other sites named to the Irreplaceable America initiative include the Watts Towers in Los Angeles, the ruins of the former smallpox hospital on Roosevelt Island in New York City and Dallas City Hall in Texas.
Chuck Fluornoy, executive director of the Black Mountain College Studies Building Foundation, said the World Monuments Fund designation is a reflection of the lasting impact of the building, which is home to “stories of courage, creativity, collaboration, innovation, ingenuity, resilience.”
“All of these define and undergird the American experience, and they’re all epitomized and codified in this college and in this building,” he said.
The foundation is launching a $15 million to $20 million capital campaign to restore the building and operate it as a center for creative arts. The restoration work is expected to begin in the fall of 2027 and be completed by spring of 2029.
Once the building is restored, it will be home to Camp Rockmont’s art activities during the summer. The building will host artist residencies, public tours, exhibitions and seminars during the other nine months of the year, Fluornoy said.
