
Contact: Katherine Snider, Rockefeller Foundation Communications, 212-852-8488, ksnider@rockfound.org
Photo: Jane Jacobs
The 2007 Jane Jacobs Medal will be accompanied by prizes totaling $200,000. The selection of the winners and allocation of the prize money will ultimately be decided by the members of a Medal Selection Jury (see complete list below), which is co-chaired by George Campbell Jr., president of The Cooper Union, and arts patron and philanthropist Agnes Gund, and includes Rockefeller Foundation trustee David Rockefeller, Jr. One award will recognize leadership and lifetime contribution; the other will recognize new ideas and activism that reflect the ideals of Jane Jacobs. The two Jane Jacobs medalists will together represent the creativity, innovation and dynamism of
The Rockefeller Foundation launched an Urban Design Studies program in the 1950s that helped foster the emergence of the new discipline - urban design and theory. As part of this initiative, one of the Foundation's grants was to a then-obscure writer from
In announcing the award, Darren Walker, Vice President, Foundation Initiatives at the Rockefeller Foundation, said, "In addition to being known for her writing and theory, Jane Jacobs is remembered as an activist who took her principles to the streets. Through her close participation in, and study of, her community, Jacobs brought fresh thinking to the relationship between the needs of living communities and the urban environment. To honor her indomitable spirit and life's work, the Rockefeller Foundation has established the Jane Jacobs Medal to celebrate individuals whose accomplishments exemplify 'Jacobsonian' principles and practices in
Nominations for the Jane Jacobs Medal can be submitted electronically on www.rockfound.org/efforts/jacobs/janejacobs.shtml until 5 p.m. EST on March 2, 2007. The recipients of the 2007 Jane Jacobs Medals will be announced in June. An award ceremony will take place in September, in conjunction with a new exhibit on Jacobs that will open at the Municipal Art Society.
MAS President Kent Barwick said, "We are honored to work with the Rockefeller Foundation on the Jane Jacobs Medal, and we greatly appreciate the Foundation's support of our upcoming exhibit. I can't imagine a better time to celebrate and explore the life and work of a woman who challenged the way we think about, preserve, and develop
The Municipal Art Society of
The Rockefeller Foundation was established in 1913 by John D. Rockefeller, Sr., to "promote the well-being" of humanity by addressing the root causes of serious problems. With assets of more than $3.5 billion, it is one of the nation's largest private foundations.
More information on the 2007 Jane Jacobs Medal and Jury, as well as Jane Jacobs' life, is available on the Rockefeller Foundation website at www.rockfound.org/efforts/jacobs/janejacobs.shtml.