Architects and industry allies provide $40,000 in public-education grants

Boston, Massachusetts, December 30, 2005 — Ten public-education programs throughout Massachusetts are receiving a total of $39,800 in grants this month from the Boston Foundation for Architecture. Each grant helps underwrite community-based public-education programs that focus on elevating public awareness of and participation in the planning, design, and construction of our communities.

The Foundation — created by the Boston Society of Architects in 1984 — received proposals from schoolteachers, institutions, and other individual and organizational applicants throughout the state. This year’s grants are summarized here and include the names and telephone numbers/e-mail addresses of the individuals to call/write in each case for additional details.

Worcester Arts Magnet School — $1,800 to support the development of a standards-based history/social studies unit that uses buildings in the city to develop a knowledge and appreciation of architecture (Susan O’Neil, 508-799-3575/ oneilsp@worc.k12.ma.us)

North Bennet Street School — $5,000 to help support a year-long series of workshops in Dudley Square and other Roxbury neighborhoods designed to elevate homeowners’ and youngsters’ understanding of architecture and community building (Hubert Jessup, 617-227-0155/ externalrelations@nbss.org)

Learning By Design in Massachusetts — $3,500 to support a professional-development initiative for K–12 teachers in underserved Boston communities in which architecture and design are themes for integrated arts and mathematics teaching (Jan Ham, 508-528-4517/ lbd@architects.org)

Institute of Contemporary Art — $4,500 to support a hands-on program that connects 15–20 teenagers to Mexico City-based artist Pedro Reyes for 8–10 exhibition-related workshops exploring the intersections of art, architecture and design (Jamie Davis, 617-927-6638/ jdavis@icaboston.org)

Hyde Square Task Force — $5,000 to support an initiative that will enable neighborhood teenagers to work with architects in planning the detailed design of a new youth/family center that is to be part of a large Jackson Square development on the border of Jamaica Plain and Roxbury (Jesús Gerena, 617-524-8303x304/ jesus@hydesquare.org)

Forest Hills Educational Trust — $3,500 to support an outdoor juried exhibition of sculpture, structures and installations that responds to the Forest Hills Cemetery’s historic architecture and explores the concept of the cemetery as a final home (Cecily Miller, 617-524-0128/ cmiller@foresthillstrust.org)

Discover Roxbury — $6,000 to support an initiative to train docents focusing on Roxbury’s architecture, a series of tours highlighting several projects in the community and an overview of the diverse architectural styles including a written guide to the sites and related activities for school groups (Marcia Butman, 781-861-8893/ mbutman@comcast.net)

Citizen Schools — $3,500 to help underwrite hands-on apprenticeships for Boston middle-school students, who will be introduced to architecture and design, and training for architects and designers in the community on how to engage and teach middle-school students effectively (Jean Horstman, 617-695-2300x124/ jeanhorstman@citizenschools.org)

Boston Children’s Museum — $4,000 to help support the planning of several interactive media exhibits based in part on the construction of Children’s Wharf and the Museum’s major expansion and renovation project (Leslie Swartz, 617-426-6500x233/ swartz@bostonchildrensmuseum.org)

Boston Preservation Alliance — $3,000 to support the revival of the Old House Fair, a two-day exhibition and workshop program for amateur preservationists, and an initiative to develop and introduce neighborhood preservation workshops in underserved Boston communities (Joan Hull, 617-738-8688/ jchclio@rcn.com).

The Foundation board of trustees is chaired by Boston civic leader Rob Radloff and includes Ron Ancrum (president of Associated Grant Makers), Ena Fox (director of education at the ICA), Emil Frei (Payton Construction Company), Roger Goldstein FAIA (a principal with Goody Clancy), Richard Green FAIA (a principal with CBT), Tom Keane, Hon. BSA (columnist, The Boston Globe Magazine), Robert Kuehn (Keen Development Corp.), Peter Kuttner FAIA (managing principal of Cambridge Seven Associates and vice-chair of the Foundation), Jeremy Liu (Asian Community Development Corporation), Peter Madsen FAIA (president of Edo Essex Properties), civic leader Dr. Kyra Montagu, Sam Plimpton (Baupost Group), Gretchen Schneider, Assoc. AIA (Smith College Art Department; Rogers Marvel Architects), Linda Snyder (Harvard University Department of Arts & Sciences), and Gail Sullivan AIA (Gail Sullivan Associates).

For information on how to contribute to the Foundation to support community programs such as those described here or with other questions, write/call Foundation executive director Richard Fitzgerald at rfitzgerald@architects.org / 617-951-1433x232.