MAS to administer awards program on behalf of the Rockefeller Foundation

The Rockefeller Foundation announced today that it is opening the public nominating process for the 2010 Jane Jacobs Medal — awarded to two living individuals whose creative vision for the urban environment has significantly contributed to the vibrancy and variety of New York City. Nominations can be submitted by anyone, but must be made by Monday, March 1, 2010. Nominations should be made online here.

The Municipal Art Society is honored to again administer the Jane Jacobs Medal nomination process on behalf of the Rockefeller Foundation, as we have done since 2007 when the Foundation first established the award to honor the activist, author and urbanist who died in April 2006 at the age of 89. MAS will also sponsor a series of walking tours and the annual Jane Jacobs Forum this fall to coincide with the medal presentations. Continue Reading>>

After more than 25 years in the Villard Houses on Madison Avenue, the Municipal Art Society is moving its headquarters to the Steinway Hall Building at 111 West 57th Street, as of February 2010. MAS President Vin Cipolla remarked earlier this week,
“Having a new home in such a storied building coincides perfectly with our plans to reaffirm our mission of advocacy for all New Yorkers. I am excited to call 111 West 57th Street MAS’ new home, and look forward to many productive years there.”

MAS signed a lease for the entire 16th floor at 111 West 57th Street, located between Avenue of the Americas and Seventh Avenue. The 17-story office building is owned by Steinway & Sons. Built in 1925, 111 West 57th Street was designed by legendary architects Warren and Wetmore. For more information about the building, read the press release here.

Plans are underway for the continuation of our exhibition programming and our bookstore operations.

Please stop by the Villard Houses to view our current exhibit, Re-Imagining cities: Urban Design After the Age of Oil, co-sponsored by PennDesign. The exhibition, which is free and open to the public, is on display at MAS through Friday, December 4. Click here for more information about MAS exhibits, including gallery hours.

Ahead of the upcoming 2nd Annual Jane Jacobs Forum — which encourages New Yorkers to re-imagine their city with urban farms, MAS’ Tamara Coombs and forum panelist and greenhouse director at Gotham Greens Jennifer Nelkin, discussed the prospects of developing commercial-scale agriculture in New York City and how to grow fresh produce at the South Pole.

Join us at the Jane Jacobs Forum on November 3 to delve into the economic development and urban design implications of the fundamental question: Can New York, a city with a growing population and shrinking acreage, eventually grow enough food within its boundaries to become self-sufficient?

Moderator Neal Peirce of the Washington Post, will be joined by Ms. Nelkin and other expert panelists including, microbiology Professor Dickson Despommier of Columbia University, landscape designer Dan Albert of Weber Thompson architects in Seattle, Colin Cathcart of Kiss + Cathcart architects in Brooklyn, environmental studies Professor Nevin Cohen of The New School, and Ian Marvy executive director of Added Value in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

The Jane Jacobs Forum is sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation. Related to the forum is the exhibition Re-Imagining Cities: Urban Design After the Age of Oil — currently on display at MAS through Friday, December 4. Visit MAS.org/exhibitions for more details.

Re-Imagining Cities: Urban Design After the Age of Oil an exhibition co-sponsored by PennDesign opens at The Municipal Art Society of New York with a reception on Thursday, October 1, at 6:30 p.m. It stretches thinking about both sustainability and livability even further by boldly considering strategies from around the world. We New Yorkers can be provincial at times — this exhibition gives us an opportunity to glimpse what the rest of the world is doing in response to climate change and the complex movement toward increased urbanization.

Join us for the opening reception, including a glass of local wine and sampling of canapés made from local foods. Limited space is now open to non-MAS members. Entry is free, but reservations are required. RSVP online or call Katie Skelly on 212-935-2075. MAP.

The exhibition will be on display at MAS from Friday, October 2, through Friday, December 4. Click here for more information about MAS exhibits, including gallery hours.

Last Monday evening, MAS welcomed Anthony Flint, author of the new book Wrestling with Moses: How Jane Jacobs Took On New York’s Master Builder and Transformed the American City, who gave an engaging lecture on the clash between these two influential figures.

Flint portrays their battle as the ultimate David-and-Goliath story: Jacobs was the quirky “girl from Scranton” who shunned academics and would later turn down an honorary degree from Harvard. Moses was the “master builder” who graduated from Yale, continued his studies at Oxford, and returned from England with an affected English accent. He wielded his power through appointed positions, while she used savvy activism to mobilize the community and to court both the media and up-and-coming politicians like Ed Koch. Continue Reading>>

The Rockfeller Foundation announced today that the recipients of the 2009 Jane Jacobs Medal are Richard Kahan and Damaris Reyes. The medal, which is administered by the Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS), was created in 2007 to honor the author and activist who died in April 2006. It is awarded annually to two New Yorkers whose work creates new ways of seeing and understanding the city.

Founder and CEO of the Urban Assembly, Richard Kahan is a former President of the New York State Urban Development Corporation and former Chairman of the Battery Park City Authority. Since 1999, the Urban Assembly has created, and now manages, 22 public secondary schools located, by design, in many of the lowest income neighborhoods in New York. Mr. Kahan will receive the 2009 Jane Jacobs Medal for Lifetime Leadership. Continue Reading>>

On Monday night, join world-renowned architects Peter Eisenman and Michael Graves for a discussion of their personal book collections and the books that have most influenced their work. Interviewed by MAS Chairman, David Childs, this is sure to be a lively conversation and is a rare opportunity to see and hear these influential architects in person.

The event kicks off Unpacking My Library, an exhibition by the MAS bookstore, Urban Center Books, of New York architects and their books. The first of ten in a series, the exhibition documents Peter Eisenman’s relationship with books by combining an interactive exhibit visually scanning the bookshelves, with a video interview, and more. With a different architect every month, the exhibition continues through 2010 with Michael Graves, Toshiko Mori, Stan Allen, Liz Diller and Ric Scofidio, Michael Sorkin, Henry Cobb, Steven Holl, Bernard Tschumi, and Tod Williams and Billie Tsien.

Support generously provided by Elise Jaffe + Jeffrey Brown.

An Evening with Peter Eisenman and Michael Graves
Monday, May 4, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m., at the Municipal Art Society of New York MAP
$25, $15 MAS members. Purchase tickets online or call 212-935-2075.

There are still a few tickets left for tonight’s lecture by architectural historian Francis Morrone on the architecture and history of New York’s main street, Broadway. This program will be illustrated with photographs from different periods in the life of this unique urban thoroughfare, from Bowling Green to the Harlem River.

Though a fascinating subject in its own right, tonight’s focus is to provide context for the current photographic exhibition By Way of Broadway: New York Photographs by Cervin Robinson, on display at MAS through Thursday, May 7.

Tickets for tonight’s lecture are $15, $10 MAS members. Purchase them online or call 212-935-2075, and for more information about the exhibit and gallery hours, visit www.mas.org/exhibitions.

Renowned architectural photographer and long-time Broadway resident Cervin Robinson chats with Elizabeth Werbe of MAS about the images and inspiration behind his exhibition By Way of Broadway: New York Photographs by Cervin Robinson, which opens with a reception tonight, Wednesday, March 25, 6:00 p.m., at MAS.This collection of black & white and color photographs explores New York’s visual landscape with thirty views of the 17-mile length of Manhattan’s main street taken over the course of three decades.

The exhibition opens to the public tomorrow, Thursday, March 26, and will be on display through Thursday, May 7, 2009. Visit www.mas.org/exhibitions for gallery hours and more information.

MAS is pleased to announce the opening of the exhibition, By Way of Broadway: New York Photographs by Cervin Robinson, next Thursday, March 26. One of the most widely-published architectural photographers working today, Cervin Robinson began taking photographs at the encouragement of his father, an architect, when he was twelve, and this collection explores New York’s visual landscape comprising thirty views of the 17-mile length of Manhattan’s main street taken over the course of three decades.

The exhibition opens with a reception at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 25, at MAS. The event is free but reservations are required. RSVP online or call 212-935-2075. By Way of Broadway will be on display at MAS galleries through Wednesday, May 6, and the galleries are open to the public Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday: 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., and closed at all other times. Continue Reading>>