Description

Please find attached here a letter from Madison Square Park Conservancy requesting a special grant in the amount of $25,000 for short-term salary support.
Before the pandemic, the AAP had been planning on recommending an April 2020 special grant to support MSPC’s annual symposium on public art. This would have been the third symposium supported by the program, which adopted this practice in place of the more generic “good neighbor” grants that were made after the HLF offices were relocated to 51 Madison.  Exceptions to this pattern have occurred when the MSPC’s sculpture projects are particularly compelling, including the Martin Puryear installation in the park, and subsequently at the Venice Biennale.
When the 2020 symposium was cancelled in April, the AAP invited MSPC to apply for this special grant in place of the originally planned special grant.
The park plays a vital role in the ecosystem of the city, as a mainstay of the Madison Square Park neighborhood, and as  one of the most compelling venues for public art in New York. The Conservancy merits the Foundation’s support in these challenging times, in order to emerge, as soon as possible, at a high level of functionality.
This grant is recommended wholeheartedly.