The National Park Service (NPS) announced $25.7 million in funding for the cultural and historic preservation of 59 nationally significant sites and collections. Among the buildings and sites receiving money for renovation and restoration projects are a Spanish colonial residence in Santa Barbara, a church by Frank Lloyd Wright, and a project to repair the steps at a Christopher Wren–designed building at the College of William and Mary.
For 25 years, the Save America’s Treasures program has provided over $405 million from the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) to the preservation and conservation of notable sites, collections, artifacts, and structures. National Park Service Director Chuck Sams noted in a statement, “It’s fitting to celebrate this milestone anniversary through a wide range of projects that help to pass the full history of America and its people down to future generations.”
The funding will be distributed to 28 historical sites in need of preservation or repair work. Money will also be allocated for over two dozen cultural institutions seeking to safeguard or digitize their collections and archives. Among the list of buildings and landscapes with prominent historical legacies, are the Longue Vue House and Gardens in New Orleans. The residence will receive funds to further recognize the work of Ellen Biddle Shipman, a landscape designer. Through the restoration and conservation of Shipman’s design, these funds carve the path for education and public awareness of Shipman’s influence and her emergence within the male-dominated field.
Other notable sites on the list include the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens’ swimming pool grotto. The Mediterranean-style villa was once a center of entertainment. The house oft-referred to as the “Hearst Castle” of the East houses a collection of decorative furnishings and objects from Europe. Also notable is the Louisiana State University (LSU) Campus Mounds Preservation Project. The mounds, now part of the LSU Campus, were once sacred structures, constructed at least 6,000 years ago by Indigenous people. The grant will aid in preserving the stability of the mounds’ surface and stop ongoing damage to the site.
The full list of historic sites receiving funding for preservation projects is reproduced below. A brief description of the scope for each project can be found here.
California Missions Foundation | California Telluride Council for the Arts and Humanities | Colorado Vizcaya Museum and Gardens Trust | Florida Foundation for Homan Square | Illinois
Funds will prevent erosion from continuing and add denser drought-resistant grass to stabilize the mounds’ surface. (Spatms/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 3.0)
Louisiana State University | Louisiana Longue Vue House and Gardens Corporation | Louisiana Mount Vernon Place Conservancy | Maryland Captain Robert Bennet Forbes House Museum | Massachusetts Oakland University | Michigan The Durham Museum | Nebraska Dover Friends Meeting | New Hampshire Inlet Public/Private Association | New Jersey
St. Bartholomew’s Conservancy | New York Historic Hudson Valley | New York Basilica Preservation Fund | North Carolina Rivers of Steel Heritage Corporation | Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts | Pennsylvania Arch Street Meeting House Preservation Trust | Pennsylvania Quintessence Theater Group | Pennsylvania Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul | South Carolina City of Dallas | Texas The Landmark Trust USA | Vermont
Funding will rebuild the steps of the Christopher Wren building at the College of William and Mary. Skilled stonemasons, historic brick masons, and other specialized craftspeople will execute the work using Portland limestone. (MiguelYerena/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0)
College of William & Mary | Virginia Coalfield Development Corporation | West Virginia State Historical Society of Wisconsin | Wisconsin Center for Veterans Issues | Wisconsin Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church Foundation |Wisconsin
The Helen Frankenthaler Foundation—an arts-focused nonprofit named after its late founder, a New York painter—announced yesterday its latest round of grants, part of its 2024 Frankenthaler Climate Initiative (FCI). This iteration totals $3.3 million earmarked for 69 U.S. arts organizations. Founded in 2021 in partnership with nonprofits RMI and Environment & Culture Partners, FCI is the first national initiative to finance energy-focused projects for visual arts organizations.
Funding will enable these organizations to achieve multiple sustainability-oriented objectives: adopting new technology to improve energy efficiency, progressing toward net-zero and carbon neutral targets, and implementing green energy systems within historic buildings.
“The Frankenthaler Climate Initiative continues to enable an extraordinary shift in how arts organizations act on climate,” Jon Creyts, CEO of RMI, said in a statement. “[These projects] are about showing what is possible when creativity and environmental responsibility intersect.”
The grant program comprises four classifications tailored to different stages and scales of project development, with projects in later stages receiving higher funding.
New this year, early-stage projects for “first actions, small spaces, or stand alone projects with a quick turnaround” fall under Catalyst Grands. Other grants include Scoping Grants which fund assessments to identify clean energy needs; comprehensive project support through the Technical Assistance Grants; and Implementation Grants, offering large scale infrastructural changes.
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico was recognized as part of the Technical Assistance Grant. (Šarūnas Burdulis/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 2.0)
The 2024 awardees highlight the diverse organizations and varied applications of the grant funds. There are several museums including Marfa’sChinati Foundation and the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico. MoMA PS1 and MASS MoCA will both focus on energy audit projects to determine strategies for lowering carbon footprint. The Flint Institute of Arts will swap electric steam humidifiers used to maintain stored artwork for new ultrasonic humidification units. Automation and digitization systems will be added to the Seattle Art Museum, improving energy efficiency.
Numerous schools are also on the list. The California College of the Arts will use solar energy at its San Francisco campus, while the Rhode Island School of Design will assess how it can best improve its energy approach. $100,000 will be allotted to the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design to install an energy efficient HVAC system.
“Thanks to the Frankenthaler Climate Initiative, we’re already seeing significant and lasting changes within the industry,” Sarah Sutton, CEO of Environment & Culture Partners, said in a statement. “The level of knowledge demonstrated by this year’s awardees indicates a higher baseline of clean energy understanding and capabilities as compared to a few years ago.”The full list of grantees can be found here.
A plantation-era cemetery in Georgia, a 1930s Mississippi jazz “juke joint,” and one of the oldest Black mosques in the country are among the 30 sites selected by the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund to receive amounts ranging from $50,000 to $150,000.
Since its inception in 2017, the fund has raised more than $140 million, and is the largest resource dedicated to the preservation of African American historic places. This year, $3 million in grant funding will go to protecting and preserving 30 sites representing Black history.
Many of the overarching themes present in the 2023 African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund remain in this year’s installment. Again, there are numerous sites focused on education, such as the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts and Kennard High School. Community facilities also continue to receive grants: the John F. Kennedy Community Center or last year’s Charles McAfee Swimming Pool.
Completed in 1960, Masjid Muhammad, Nations Mosque was designed by David R. Byrd and is one of the oldest Black Muslim congregations in the United States. Funding will go to the building’s planned LEED-certified expansion, among other improvements. (EA Crunden)
There are four categories within in the 2024 Action Fund: Building Capital, which focuses on the restoration and rehabilitation of cultural assets; Increasing Organizational Capacity, which provides leadership staff positions supervising Black heritage sites; Project Planning and Development, which funds the development of preservation plans, feasibility studies, and historic site reports; and Programming and Education, which improves storytelling through public education and exhibits.
This year’s awards feature the second edition of Conserving Black Modernism grants, which uphold the work of African American architects. With support from the Getty Foundation, the fund will doll out $1.2 million in preservation funding to these eight awardees. These include two studios belonging to prominent African American architects: the Robert T. Coles Home and Studio and Azurest South, the home and studio of Amaza Lee Meredith.
Azurest South is the 1934 home and studio of the Black architect Amaza Lee Meredith. (Hannah Price)
Brent Leggs, executive director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, said in a statement: “The National Grant Program represents the Action Fund’s enduring commitment to telling the full American story—one that makes room for Black resilience, creativity, and achievement. These grants will support critical preservation efforts to revitalize and sustain tangible links to our shared past that we hope will inspire future generations.”
The full list of grantees can be seen below while additional information can be found here.
2024 National Grant Program Grantees
Alpha Gamma Omega House | The Ivy Heritage Foundation | Capital Project | Los Angeles
Imperial Hotel | Jack Hadley Black History Memorabilia. | Capital Project | Thomasville, Georgia
Pierce Chapel African Cemetery | Hamilton Hood Foundation | Project Planning | Midland, Georgia
Erma Hayman House | City of Boise Department of Arts & History | Organizational Capacity Building | Boise, Idaho
From 1913 to 1970, the Wabash Avenue YMCA was an important part of Chicago’s Black community. Community-based, social impact program, the Renaissance Collaborative, now uses the building. (Courtesy National Trust for Historic Preservation)
Wabash Avenue YMCA | The Renaissance Collaborative. | Programming and Interpretation | Chicago
Nicodemus Historical Society & Museum | Nicodemus Historical Society & Museum | Organizational Capacity Building | Bogue, Kansas
Chickasaw Park | Louisville Olmsted Parks Conservancy. | Programming and Interpretation | Louisville, Kentucky
Kennard High School at the Kennard African American Cultural Heritage Center & Museum | Kennard Alumni Association. | Organizational Capacity Building | Centreville, Maryland
Gaithersburg Community Museum | Gaithersburg Community Museum | Programming and Interpretation | Gaithersburg, Maryland
Camp Katherine Parsons was founded in 1956 to give Minneapolis-area Black youth an opportunity to enjoy nature. (Courtesy National Trust for Historic Preservation)
Camp Katharine Parsons Nature House | Phyllis Wheatley Community Center | Project Planning | Minneapolis
Unita Blackwell Freedom House | The Lighthouse | Capital Project | Jackson, Mississippi
Alonzo Chatmon’s Juke Joint | The Mt. Zion Memorial Fund for Blues Music and Justice | Project Planning | Water Valley, Mississippi
Shady Rest Golf and Country Club | Preserve Shady Rest Committee | Project Planning | Scotch Plains, New Jersey
New Amsterdam Musical Association Building | New Amsterdam Musical Association | Capital Project | Harlem, New York
Woodlawn Cemetery | Woodlawn Conservancy | Programming and Interpretation | Bronx, New York
Lefferts Historic House | Prospect Park Alliance | Project Planning | Brooklyn, New York
Cincinnati Preservation Association’s “Greater Cincinnati Black and African American Historic Context Study” | Cincinnati Preservation Association | Project Planning | Cincinnati
Kennett Underground Railroad Center (KURC) | Brandywine Valley Scenic Byway Commission | Project Planning | Chadds Ford, Kennett Township, Pennsylvania
The Brainerd Institute | Brainerd Institute Heritage | Chester, South Carolina
George W. Hubbard House of Meharry Medical College | Friends Of Hubbard House | Capital Project | Nashville
Simms/Gray-Lewis Cottage | Rutherford B.H. Yates Museum | Capital Project | Houston
Education reformer Booker T. Washington and the Jewish philanthropist Julius Rosenwald established the Pine Grove Washington-Rosenwald School in 1917. (Courtesy National Trust for Historic Preservation)
The Pine Grove Washington-Rosenwald School | AMMD Pine Grove Project | Project Planning | Richmond, Virginia
Conserving Black Modernism Program
Part of Howard University’s campus, the Ira Aldridge Theater was designed by Black architects Hilyard Robinson and Paul R. Williams. (Courtesy National Trust for Historic Preservation)
Ira Aldridge Theater | Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts at Howard University | Project Planning | Washington, D.C.
Masjid Muhammad, Nations Mosque | Masjid Muhammad, Inc. | Project Planning & Limited Capital | Washington, D.C.
Claude B. Dansby, Benjamin G. Brawley, and John H. Wheeler Halls at Morehouse College | Morehouse College | Project Planning | Atlanta
Kenneth G. Neigh Dormitory Complex at the former Mary Holmes Community College | Dream Center Golden Triangle | Project Planning | West Point, Mississippi
Robert T. Coles Home and Studio | Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House | Project Planning | Buffalo, New York
In 1963, Robert T. Coles designed the JFK Recreation Center as his thesis project at MIT, and now hosts multi-generational community gatherings. (Jalen Wright)
John F. Kennedy Community Center | Preservation Buffalo Niagara | Buffalo, New York
Universal Life Insurance Company Building | South Memphis Renewal Community Development Corporation | Project Planning & Limited Capital | Memphis, Tennessee
Azurest South, Amaza Lee Meredith Home and Studio | Virginia State University Alumni Association | Project Planning & Limited Capital | St. Petersburg, Virginia
In Copenhagen, during the 2024 UNESCO International Day of Light, The Daylight Award has announced Spanish architect and professor Alberto Campo Baeza as the laureate for the architecture category and German professor of chronobiology Till Roenneberg for his scientific research regarding the impact of daylight. The two categories create an interdisciplinary bridge between fields, grounding architectural thinking with high-level research. The two winners have been commended for scientific investigations into issues like circadian rhythms and dependencies in the case of Professor Roenneberg, and the poetic qualities obtained through the use of daylight in Alberto Campo Baeza’s architectural works.
For the architectural category, the award aims to recognize those architects who are exploring the sensory, aesthetic, and emotional qualities of daylight in architectural spaces. Alberto Campo Baeza’s works span a multitude of purposes and programs, from museums such as Andalusia’s Museum of Memory and the recently completed Robert Olnick Pavilion of the Magazzino Museum in New York to sports halls like the one designed for Francisco de Vitoria University in Madrid, the renown Caja Granada Savings Bank, in addition to office buildings, or private residences.
Almost always rendered in white, Campo Baeza’s buildings showcase a restrained palette of shapes and materials, along with carefully subtle details. Based on simple, rectangular, and repetitive structures, the spaces are thus free from superfluous elements, allowing them to maximize the presence and impact of natural light. The white surfaces also contribute to the feeling of airiness, encouraging a spiritual reflection irrespective of the program. Countering the lightness of many of his works, projects like the Caja Granada Savings Bank display massive cave-like spaces, where light entering via skylights only contributes to the monumentality of the spaces.
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Campo Baeza’s buildings appear to attract daylight on their white surfaces and heighten the presence and healing power of natural light. Light seems to dwell in his white courtyards and interiors, which usually also project a sense of reduced gravity because of the absence of materiality. This utter reduction creates a spiritual or confessional air to his buildings, regardless of their functions. – Jury Reasoning
Alberto Campo Baeza. Image Courtesy of The Daylight Award
Recognized for his scientific research into the field of chronotypes and the connections between natural illumination and human health, well-being, and performance, Professor Till Roenneberg is Emeritus Professor of Chronobiology at the Institute of Medical Psychology at Ludwig-Maximilian University (LMU) in Munich, Germany. He is recognized for having established several key concepts related to light and circadian rhythms, including the concept of chronotypes, a term referring to the relationship between the internal circadian clock and the natural daylight-dark cycle, and the concept of “social jetlag,” referring to discrepancies between the rhythm dictated by biology and those imposed by societal norms. His fundamental research has been applied to multiple branches of society, spanning medicine, public policy, and architecture.
Till Roenneberg. Image Courtesy of The Daylight Award
After establishing key concepts related to light and circadian rhythms, Roenneberg transitioned to human and social sciences with a focus on daylight. Roenneberg used his experience in experimental bench-based chronobiology and in using big data to address research questions that focus on human daily behavior in real life. […] A key observation by Roenneberg is the demonstration that human clocks are profoundly influenced by the natural light/dark cycle, despite increasing urbanization. . – Jury Reasoning
This year’s laureates were selected by a cross-disciplinary jury consisting of Finish architect and writer, Juhani Pallasmaa (jury chair), British professor of circadian neuroscience Russell Foster, Danish architect and creative director Dorte Mandrup, Dutch professor of environmental psychology Yvonne de Kort, Swiss professor of pharmaceutical chemistry Gerd Folkers, Dutch architectural photographer lwan Baan and American director of the Institute of Economic Botany Michael Balick.
With the aim of honoring and supporting the scientific research and exploration of daylight in architecture, the Daylight Award, established by the philanthropic foundations VILLUM FONDEN, VELUX FONDEN, and VELUX STIFTUNG, is conferred biennially in two categories: The Daylight Award for Research and The Daylight Award for Architecture. A particular emphasis of the award is the interplay between theory and practice, linking different disciplines to create a holistic understanding of the positive effects of daylight. The previous winners of the award are Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara of Grafton Architects for the architecture category, and Anna Wirz-Justice for her research into human circadian rhythms and sleep regulated by light.
Iwona Buczkowska and Angela Davis Receive the Jane Drew and Ada Louise Huxtable Prizes 2023
Courtesy of Iwona Buczkowska Patricia Stroud, and Angela Davis, Oregon State University
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The Jane Drew Prize for Architecture 2024 and the Ada Louise Huxtable Prize for Contribution to Architecture 2024 have been awarded to Polish-French architect Iwona Buczkowska and political activist and author Angela Davis, respectively. Honoring their work and commitment to their practices, the awards highlight their efforts to raise the profile of women in architecture. The Jane Drew Prize celebrates Buczkowska’s innovative approach to social housing and public buildings in France. Meanwhile, the Ada Louise Huxtable Prize recognizes Angela Davis’s leadership in the movement to abolish the prison system.
The design of the Cité Pierre Sémard, a 225-unit timber housing complex in Seine-Saint-Denis that was completed in 1992, is one of Iwona Buczkowka ‘s most renowned achievements. Using arcs and oblique planes to create intimate, well-lit living spaces, Buczkowska defies convention and highlights architecture’s role in promoting social ecology. Her vision emphasizes her progressive ideals and the importance of preserving her architectural heritage.
On the other hand, Angela Davis has been active in the struggle to abolish the modern prison system. Her forthcoming book “Abolition: Politics, Practices, Promises, Volume 1,” will be released this March. Davis has also had a significant influence on the architectural field, where her observations have sparked discussions about spatial fairness and the intersection of architecture with broader societal issues. Recent architectural analyses demonstrate how her work “Are Prisons Obsolete?” (2003), has played a significant role in rethinking alternatives to incarceration.
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The award is named in honor of Jane Drew, an advocate for women in a male-dominated profession. Through her practice, Jane Drew also contributed to introducing the Modernist movement into the UK and was responsible for bringing Le Corbusier’s work to India. The Ada Louise Huxtable Award takes its name from the famous architecture critic, who was the first full-time critic at an American newspaper and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1970.
Last year, the awards were given to Kazuo Sejima and Phyllis Lambert. Honored for her work in the Pritzker Prize-winning office SANNAA, Kazuo Sejima has worked on many internationally recognized projects, such as the New Museum in New York and the Louvre Lens gallery in France. Last month, the RIBA Gold Medal for Architecture was awarded for the first time to an African Woman, a Ghanian-Scottish architect, academic, and curator, Lesley Lokko.
A church in Selma, Alabama hit by a tornado and another in Atlanta where the NAACP’s first convention took place are among the 31 historic Black churches across the United States to receive funding from the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. Since it was launched in 2021, the Action Fund’s Preserving Black Churches initiative has given $9.8 million to over 80 churches and congregations in the United States.
As in year’s past the funding gives churches the means to restore buildings, plan for future projects, establish and grow endowments, and manage programming. In this latest round of funding the grant totals range from $50,000 up to $200,000. This allows congregations to address issues such as building repairs following natural disasters, demolition, water filtration, and mold contamination. The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund has also supported the renovation and restoration of other building typologies beyond the ecclesiastical, including university buildings, landscapes, and historic sites.
“Black churches have been at the forefront of meaningful democratic reform since this nation’s founding. They’re a living testament to the resilience of our ancestors in the face of unimaginably daunting challenges,” said Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., historian and advisor to the Action Fund in a statement. “The heart of our spiritual world is the Black church. These places of worship, these sacred cultural centers, must exist for future generations to understand who we were as a people.”
The 31 churches receiving grant money in this year’s iteration hail from all across the U.S. from Washington, D.C., to Louisiana, up to Montana. They demonstrate a broad range of architectural styles, from clapboard to Romanesque Revival. Each of the projects will receive grant money under one of the five categories outlined by the National Trust for Historic Preservation: Planning Grants, Endowment & Financial Sustainability, Organizational Capacity, Programming and Interpretation, and Capital Projects.
The full list of grantees is reproduced below and additional information can be found here.
Planning Grants
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church — Fort Valley, Georgia
Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist Church — Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Moore’s Chapel AME Zion Church — Cleveland, Arkansas
Calvin Memorial Presbyterian Church — Omaha, Nebraska
St. Peter’s United Methodist Church — Oxford, North Carolina
Taveau Church in South Carolina features a wood-frame antebellum structure. Funding will restore the building’s structure and involve the community in sustainability efforts. (Ammodramus/Wikimedia Commons/CC0 1.0/)
Henderson Chapel AME Zion Church — Rutledge, Tennessee
Ward Chapel AME Church — Cairo, Illinois
Taveau Church — Cordesville, South Carolina
Town Clock Church in Indiana was a stop on the Underground Railroad. Grant money will support continued maintenance. (Bedford/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain)
Endowment & Financial Sustainability
Town Clock Church — New Albany, Indiana
Programming & Interpretation
Mt. Zion AME Church — Skillman, New Jersey
Guidance Church of Religious Science — Los Angeles, California
Yardley’s AME Church — Yardley, Pennsylvania
Organizational Capacity
The House of God Church — Nashville, Tennessee
Capital Projects
Shiloh Baptist Church — Cleveland, Ohio
Big Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Atlanta is not only the oldest predominantly Black congregation in the Atlanta metropolitan area, it was also the venue for the first National Convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1920.(JJonahJackalope/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0)
Big Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church — Atlanta, Georgia
Union Bethel AME Church — Great Falls, Montana
First Zion Baptist Church — Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
Antioch Missionary Baptist Church — Houston, Texas
Central United Methodist Church — Jackson, Mississippi
Washington Chapel CME Church — Parkville, Missouri
Beulah Missionary Baptist Church — Natchez, Mississippi
Jacob’s Chapel AME Church — Mount Laurel, New Jersey
St. Augustine Catholic Church — New Orleans, Louisiana
St. James AME Church — New Orleans, Louisiana
St. Paul AME Church — Lexington, Kentucky
Thomas Memorial AME Zion Church — Watertown, New York
Mother Bethel AME Church — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Following a tornado in January 2023, the Tabernacle Baptist Church, will use the grant funding to replace its deteriorated lead-coated copper dome roof. (Nyttend/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain)
Tabernacle Baptist Church — Selma, Alabama
First Missionary Baptist Church — Thomasville, Georgia
Campbell AME Church — Washington, D.C.
St. Paul Methodist Episcopal Church —Augusta, Kentucky
