Architects and allies provide $40,000 in grants

Boston, Massachusetts, December 4, 2006 — Thirteen public-education programs throughout Massachusetts are receiving a total of $40,055 in grants this month from the Boston Foundation for Architecture.

The Foundation’s trustees, who evaluated the four dozen grant applications received this year, include architects, contractors, developers, educators, civic leaders, journalists, and allied building industry professionals. These grants help underwrite community-based, k–12 and other public-education programs that focus on elevating public awareness of and participation in the planning, design, and construction of our communities.

This year the Foundation received proposals from schoolteachers, institutions, and other individuals and organizations throughout the state. This year’s grant recipients (along with contact information) are:

Citizen Schools (Boston) — $4,000 to support design-related apprenticeships for Boston middle school students, training of design professionals to engage k–12 students, and community events that underscore the value of design for students and their families (Jean Horstman, 617-695-2300 x124).

Codman Academy Charter Public School/Codman Academy Foundation (Dorchester) — $1,500 to support an environmental arts course, a written course curriculum to be disseminated widely to educators, and an online art gallery (Meg Campbell, 617-287-0700).

Girls Inc. of Worcester — $4,500 to support an architecture and construction program for 10–14 year old girls that builds skills, hands-on knowledge, and addresses social issues in public forums (Liz Molloy, 508-755-6455 x25).

Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site (Brookline) — $2,000 to support a curriculum-based program that introduces third-grade students to the impact of landscapes on human thought and feeling and to how thoughtfully designed and stewarded landscapes strengthen communities (Liza Stearns, 617-201-7217).

Hawthorne Youth and Community Center (Roxbury)—$3,000 to support the creation of an exhibit and an “architectural bingo game” designed to help 6–12 year-olds and their families identify and evaluate architectural styles in Roxbury’s Highland Park and other Boston communities (Samantha Saad, 617-427-0613).

Institute of Contemporary Art/ICA (South Boston)—$2,500 to support KidsBuild!, a hands-on event for children ages 4–12 who will design and build a community around the new ICA site with three-dimensional art materials (Jamie Davis,
617-927-6638).

Kids Connect (Natick)—$2,200 to support after-school programs for Natick middle-school students engaged in the revisioning and revitalization of Natick Center through drawings and models (Ann Sussman AIA, 978-790-7776).

Learning By Design in Massachusetts (statewide)—$3,500 to train k–12 educators throughout Massachusetts on how to effectively use architecture as a teaching theme (Jan Ham, 508-528-4517).

Sanderson Academy (Ashfield)—$3,000 to support a Learning By Design-based curriculum, an all-school “box town” event, and related activities (Donna Paley, 603-358-2312).

Southeastern Massachusetts Arts Collaborative (Attleboro)—$3,500 to support the development of Architecture Resource Kits, train a dozen k–12 teachers to pilot the kits, and make the final version available for general use (Sherye Weisz, 508-222-8484).

Umana Barnes Middle School (East Boston)—$3,250 to support architectural projects including 3-D models, murals, block prints and 3-D models of historical and traditional buildings, city highlights, and views across the water (Rita Sara Cohen, 978-758-8339).

Waterfront Historic Area League/WHALE (New Bedford)—$3,500 to refine the Discover New Bedford curriculum in an after-school program for disadvantaged, at-risk children (Lisa Sughrue, 508-
997-1776).

Worcester Arts Magnet School—$3,605 to support the development of pre-k–6 classroom lessons focusing on grade-level concepts, using local architecture as the teaching tool, which 3–5 grade students will use to “teach” their parents (Susan O’Neil, 508-799-3575).

The Boston Foundation for Architecture, which was established by the BSA in 1984, was chaired in 2006 by Boston civic leader Rob Radloff and the 2006 board of trustees included Ron Ancrum (Associated Grant Makers), Ena Fox ( Institute of Contemporary Art), Emil Frei (Payton Construction Company), Roger Goldstein FAIA (Goody Clancy), Richard Green FAIA (CBT), Tom Keane (The Boston Globe), the late Robert Kuehn (Keen Development Corporation), Peter Kuttner FAIA (Cambridge Seven Associates and vice chair of the Foundation), Jeremy Liu (Asian CDC), Peter Madsen FAIA ( Edo Essex Properties), Dr. Kyra Montagu, Sam Plimpton (Baupost Group), Gretchen Schneider, Assoc. AIA (Rogers Marvel Architects), Linda Snyder (Harvard University Physical Resources and Planning Department), 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.