The Municipal Art Society of New York

MAS is very pleased to present a special Arts Forum panel discussion on Tuesday, April 24th supported by ArtPlace and the Rockefeller Foundation, Measuring Vibrancy: The Impacts of Arts and Culture Investments in Placemaking. MAS is convening urban leaders from the development, design, economic development, research, and real estate communities nationwide to discuss options for measuring the impacts of creative placemaking. Continue Reading>>

The 119^th Annual Meeting of The Municipal Art Society of New York was a terrific, standing room only event.  Held last Thursday at the newly renovated New-York Historical Society, the annual gathering of MAS members, partners, funders and friends celebrated the integral role of the arts in fostering a livable city. The evening started off with the presentation of the Evangeline Blashfield Award to New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Kate D. Levin for her dedication to the arts in New York City. Continue Reading>>

John Morse, the artist who delighted New Yorkers with his quirky pedestrian safety signs will receive the 24th Brendan Gill Prize for “Curbside Haiku,” at the MAS Annual Meeting.

Said MAS President Vin Cipolla, “John’s charmingly effective signs have captured the imagination of all New Yorkers, whether they travel on two feet or via another means of transportation. In devising such a witty and whimsical way to capture the attention of even the busiest New Yorkers, he may just have accomplished the impossible.” Continue Reading>>

The prize, endowed to permit a cash award, is given annually to the creator of a specific work such as a book, essay, musical composition, play, painting, sculpture, architectural design, film or choreographic work completed in 2011 that best captures the spirit and energy of New York City.

Nominations are still being accepted for the 2011 Brendan Gill Prize through November 23, 2011.
Learn more and nominate today

MAS proudly presented the 23rd Brendan Gill Prize to Michael Van Valkenburgh for his landscape design of Brooklyn Bridge Park. The private ceremony was held at the Park Avenue Armory last Monday. “Landscape is a lively and challenging medium, and Michael showed mastery of vision in reconnecting thousands of city dwellers and visitors alike to the majesty of New York Harbor,” said MAS President Vin Cipolla at the ceremony. Continue Reading>>

Landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh will receive this year’s Brendan Gill Prize for his visionary design of Brooklyn Bridge Park in DUMBO. The park, where MAS held last year’s Annual Meeting, opened in March 2010 and has already become a vital urban amenity, providing space for a wide variety of activities and programming for all members of the community. Van Valkenburgh led the reclaiming of the former shipping piers under the Brooklyn Bridge, transforming the once desolate waterfront into a regional park. Continue Reading>>

On Friday, The Alliance for the Arts announced that Randall Bourscheidt would step down as chief executive, following over two decades of civic leadership. Broadway World reports that Mr. Bourscheidt will become President Emeritus and continue working with the Alliance in a consultant role. He is Chairman of the Municipal Art Society’s Brendan Gill Prize Jury, which will present its 2010 award to Michael Van Valkenburgh, landscape architect and designer of Brooklyn Bridge Park, later this month. Continue Reading>>

We invite MAS members and friends to submit nominations for the 2010 Brendan Gill Prize. The prize, endowed to permit a cash award, is given annually to the creator of a specific work— a book, essay, musical composition, play, painting, sculpture, architectural design, film or choreographic work — completed between January 2009 and July 2010 that best captures the spirit and energy of New York City. The award is not intended to honor a lifetime achievement. Please submit nominations to MAS by July 9.

Past Brendan Gill Prize recipients have included: artists Mike and Doug Starn for their site specific installation See it split, see it change; musician Sufjan Stevens for his musical The BQE, actress Sarah Jones for her play Bridge & Tunnel, and artists Jeanne-Claude and Christo for their temporary Central Park art installation The Gates. For more information about the Brendan Gill Prize, visit MAS.org/brendan-gill or call 212-935-3960.

Last Thursday, MAS proudly presented the 22nd Brendan Gill Prize to artists Mike and Doug Starn for See it split, see it change, their site-specific permanent art installation at the South Ferry subway terminal in Lower Manhattan. Commissioned by the MTA Arts for Transit Program, See it split, see it change was completed in December 2008 to wide praise.

The Brendan Gill Prize is named for the long-time MAS trustee, renowned New Yorker theater critic, author, and architectural preservationist. The cash prize, funded by a permanent endowment, is awarded annually to the creator of a work of art, book, sculpture, film, musical composition, or architectural design, accomplished the previous year, that best captures the spirit and energy of New York City. It was established in 1986 by MAS board members Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Helen S. Tucker and Margot Wellington. Continue Reading>>

November started with a bang here at MAS. The 2nd Jane Jacobs Forum on November 3 was heavily attended, with people coming out in droves to hear panelists Dr. Dickson Despommier of Columbia University, Nevin Cohen of the New School, Jennifer Nelkin of Gotham Greens, and architect Colin Cathcart of Kiss+Cathcart, discuss urban farming. Neal Peirce, of The Washington Post, moderated. If you missed the event, check out the podcast or video.

We were very excited to have Denise Scott Brown with us on November 12, to discuss her new book, Having Word, followed by a discussion with fellow architects Sarah Whiting and Hilary Sample, moderated by Paola Antonelli, senior curator of architecture and design at MoMA.

This evening was followed by yet another great author’s talk. On November 17, Roger Kennedy visited MAS to give an illustrated lecture on his new book When Art Worked, focusing on what artists and their work did for the United States during the Great Depression. MAS friend David Rockefeller, Jr., introduced Kennedy.

On November 19, MAS was proud to award the 22^nd Brendan Gill Prize to artists Mike and Doug Starn for See it split, see it change, a permanent installation at the South Ferry subway terminal. For more information on the prize click here.

The end of November will see the publication of Unpacking My Library: Architect’s and Their Books, a co-publication of MAS and Yale University Press, edited by MAS’ own Jo Steffens, director of Urban Center Books. For more information on the book visit Urban Center Books. Be sure to join us next month, on December 8, for the book launch, featuring a panel discussion led by Barry Bergdoll, chief curator of design at MoMA, with architects Stan Allen, Bernard Tschumi, Tod Williams, and Billie Tsien, all of whom are featured in the book. An invitation to the event is accessible here.

Finally, some November tour highlights included: the Urbanists, MAS’ young members group, pub tour of Williamsburg (November 8), Powerhouse Arts District in Jersey City (November 8), Beyond Bauhaus, a tour of Midtown Manhattan and its role in modern architecture (November 14), Downtown’s Lost Neighborhood, a tour of Liberty Street down to the Battery (November 21), and Woodside Avenue, Queens (November 22). Check out our upcoming events, including a tour of Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn on November 29, here.

With about a month and a half left at the Villard Houses, before our move to Steinway Hall, stop by to see MAS’ old haunts! Our exhibit, “Re-Imagining Cities: Urban Design After the Age of Oil,” is on view in our gallery through December 4, 2009. Click here for more information, including gallery hours. Also, MAS invites you to our Villard House holiday party farewell on December 10. Purchase tickets here.

Click here to sign up for the biweekly MAS e-newsletter, MAS Update, or our new, weekly events listing e-mail This Week at MAS.

MAS started out the month with the opening of the exhibit Re-Imagining Cities: Urban Design After the Age of Oil on October 1. It is co-sponsored by PennDesign and on view in our galleries through December 4, 2009. Click here for more information about MAS exhibits, including gallery hours.

MAS was proud to present Robert A.M. Stern and Peter Malkin with the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Medal on October 26, MAS’ annual award given to individuals and organizations that have made an extraordinary impact on the quality of New York’s built environment. For more information on this year’s honorees, click here. Continue Reading>>

MAS members are invited to submit nominations for the 2009 Brendan Gill Prize now through Friday, April 10. The prize is awarded annually to the creator of a specific work — a book, essay, musical composition, play, painting, sculpture, architectural design, film or choreographic work — completed in the previous year that best captures the spirit and energy of New York City. The 2008 prize went to singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens for his multimedia musical composition The BQE.

To nominate your choice for this year’s award either click here to download a nomination form (and mail it back to us) or scroll down to the “comments” section of this page and tell us who you want to nominate, for what (i.e. which specific work) and why, making sure to add your contact details (e-mail and phone). Please call Phyllis Cohen at MAS on 212-935-3960 with any questions.

To learn more about the Brendan Gill Prize, visit www.mas.org/brendan-gill. Continue Reading>>

Last Saturday, at an award reception at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens received the 2008 Brendan Gill Prize from MAS for his multimedia musical composition The BQE. Mr. Stevens’ “symphonic and cinematic exploration of New York City’s infamous Brooklyn-Queens Expressway” was selected by the Brendan Gill jury for “capturing the energy, vigor, and verve of our incomparable city.”

Above is a brief slideshow of the evening, attended by MAS members and patrons. To join the Municipal Art Society, click here.

Singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens will receive the Municipal Art Society’s 2008 Brendan Gill Prize this Saturday, September 27, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music for his multi-media musical composition, The BQE. His “symphonic and cinematic exploration of New York City’s infamous Brooklyn-Queens Expressway” was selected by the Brendan Gill jury for “capturing the energy, vigor, and verve of our incomparable city.” We are thrilled to invite MAS Members to join us this Saturday and meet Mr. Stevens at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

MAS members (and a guest) are invited to join us for the Brendan Gill Prize Ceremony (7:00 p.m.) at BAM and the private reception afterwards where you’ll have a chance to meet Mr. Stevens in person. Then, make a real New York night of it, by staying for BAM’s massively popular “Takeover” (9 p.m. to 4 a.m.). Tickets are available through BAM. MAS members who pick up their Takeover tickets in advance will be able to go to the front of the line and bypass the long wait. Box office hours 12:00 – 6:00 p.m.

Update – Thursday, September 25
Unfortunately, all tickets to the Brendan Gill Prize reception are now sold out. Reservations are required and neither memberships nor tickets will not be sold at the door. Tickets for Takeover are still available.

MAS is awarding this year’s Brendan Gill prize to Sufjan Stevens for his acclaimed composition BQE (AsthmaticKitty). The Gill prize was created by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in honor of Brendan Gill and is awarded annually to a creator of a work of art, book, sculpture, film, musical composition, or architectural design, accomplished the previous year, that best captures the spirit and energy of New York City.

Santiago Calatrava echoes MAS’ sentiments that a train station should be a grand gateway into the city and a gift from the city for the public good.

In other news, the land and business owners in opposition to the City’s proposed Willets Point rezoning have broken into factions… Continue Reading>>