Advocacy
Getty Grants to Assist New Orleans Cultural Institutions
The Getty Foundation has established a $2 million fund to assist visual-arts institutions in New Orleans recover from Hurricane Katrina. The foundation's Fund for New Orleans will enable nonprofit arts organizations to apply for support in two areas: Conservation Grants are designed to assist the city's cultural institutions to care for their art collections and archives, historic buildings, and landscapes; and Transition Planning Grants will strengthen nonprofits as they respond to the changed environment for the arts following the storm.The city's cultural economy has been threatened by the hurricane, and the Getty recognizes that increasing cultural tourism is an important part of the recovery effort. While this fund has been designed to provide concentrated assistance in New Orleans, the foundation will also consider support through its regular grant categories for other organizations in the region hurt by Hurricane Katrina. Getty staff members will also lend their expertise to selected conservation or transition planning projects.
This is not the first time that the foundation has lent its support to the Hurricane-damaged Gulf Coast region. Shortly after the storm, the foundation funded the launch of the National Trust for Historic Preservation's recovery and outreach efforts in the devastated region. The grant covered the expenses necessary to organize and deploy volunteer teams of architects, conservators, and engineers to Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi to assess the damage caused to historic buildings and districts by the storm and flooding. This work served as an essential first step in preserving and rebuilding the area's towns and neighborhoods.
