NEA releases commemorative publication for urban design scheme

IFACCA/Artshub, 23 November 2004,USA

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has created a free booklet about one of its signature programs, the Mayors' Institute on City Design, to celebrate and document 20 successful years. Conceived in 1985, the program unites mayors and design professionals to solve problems facing urban centres across the US, exploring ways design can be used to enhance the structural, social, and economic wellbeing of cities. In 2005, the scheme turns 20, with 35 institutes under its belt. To commemorate the occasion the NEA and its partners (the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the American Architectural Foundation), have published the booklet to describe the program, highlight its alumni, and celebrate collective accomplishments. ‘Of all the programs by the National Endowment for the Arts, it is hard to imagine one that has done more tangible public good than the Mayors' Institute on City Design,’ said Arts Endowment Chairman, Dana Gioia. ‘Even a short list of this program's many accomplishments demonstrates the positive leadership and informed counsel the Mayors' Institute has provided to communities across the nation.’ The Mayors' Institute on City Design began when Mayor Joseph P. Riley of Charleston, South Carolina and his colleague Jaquelin Robertson approached the Arts Endowment with the idea for a program in which mayors could discuss their role as their city's chief urban planner. The first institute, held in 1986 led to the convening of two, and later six, institutes per year. Since then, the program has graduated 625 mayors and more than 400 design professionals, each leaving with an enhanced understanding of the design as a cultural complement to a cityscape. ‘America is defined by its cities and cities are defined and made memorable by their landmarks, their waterfronts, their neighborhoods, their great public spaces,’ said J. Thomas Cochran, Executive director of the US Conference of Mayors. ‘No one has more influence on a city's design than its mayors and that's why the Mayors' Institute on City Design is so powerful.’ To download a copy of the Mayors' Institute on City Design booklet as a PDF, CLICK HERE. For more information on the program, visit www.arts.gov

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