Getty Trust to Make Landmark Grants

The J. Paul Getty Trust is embarking on a major program to aid the conservation of architectural landmarks worldwide but with a “special” emphasis in Los Angeles.

The program marks a dramatic expansion of the trust’s grant program beyond the research and conservation of the fine arts and the humanities into the more substantive and community-sensitive issue of landmark preservation.

No dollar figure was placed on the program, which will consist of matching grants that could total up to $320,000 for individual projects. It will be operated under the Getty Grant Program, which draws its funds from an annual percentage of the trust’s approximately $3-billion endowment.

The program also is a recognition by the Getty of the art of architecture and its historical and cultural importance, including that of projects developed in this century. To date, the trust’s efforts have been focused on pre-20th-Century art.

“The unique character of a community is given visual expression in its most notable buildings,” said John Sanday, who will head the fledgling program for the trust. “Through our architectural conservations grants, we hope to make a lasting contribution to the preservation of the cultural heritage on an international level.”

However, Sanday added in an interview that there will be “special recognition by the Getty for local projects.” Mentioned in particular were the Frank Lloyd Wright houses here, constructed in the 1920s of Mesoamerican-decorated concrete block that in recent years has been markedly deteriorating. These include the Ennis Brown House in Los Feliz and the Freeman House in Hollywood Heights.

Sanday said projects also will be selected for their potential as a demonstration of conservation techniques with applicability elsewhere, and as a training ground for relevant specialists. Cited again were the houses designed by Wright in Los Angeles.

“For example,” said Sanday, “a research and training program might be developed that focuses on the conservation of the concrete blocks of one of the Wright buildings that could benefit all the Wright buildings constructed of concrete block.”

Mentioned also were the conservation of California Craftsman-styled houses, such as those designed and built here at the turn of the century by the brothers Charles and Henry Greene, and the need for a cadre of specialists to work on their delicate wood joinery, among other things.

The grants will be limited to nonprofit organizations that own and operate recognized architectural landmarks, which in most instances in the United States are defined as listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

On the international level, the Getty indicated that it will be guided in large part by the World Heritage Sites, a list of architectural landmarks compiled under the aegis of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Council on Monuments and Sites.

Among the projects Sanday said are high on the World Heritage list and examples of projects that might be considered for funding are the church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli in Venice, Italy, a distinctively marble-clad 15th-Century Romanesque-styled landmark, the indigenous adobe structures of Yemen and sections of the Great Wall of China.

Sanday stressed the concept of matching funds. “Our focus will be on the support for the development phases of the conservation projects, the planning and preparation that will improve the applicants’ eligibility to receive funding for actual restoration work from many sources, including the Getty,” he said.

Three types of funding will be available under the Getty program: project identification grants of up to $20,000; project preparation and survey grants of up to $35,000 for a single building and $50,000 for a group of buildings, and project implementation grants of up to $250,000.

According to the Getty, no grants will be available for the maintenance or operation of the buildings, only for their conservation, which includes preservation and restoration.

Project identification grants will be for organizations with limited conservation experience to retain consultants to evaluate the condition of a property and recommend a specific conservation program. This grant will not require matching funds.

Project preparation and survey grants will be for the preparation of historical and archival research, and structural analysis, architectural drawings, cost estimates and budget needed for the proposed conservation effort. One-to-one matching funds will be required under this grant.

Project implementation grants will be for the actual work, and will require, according to the Getty, at least one-to-one matching funds and, in most cases, two-to-one matching funds from other sources.

Those interested in more information on eligibility requirements and application guidelines are asked to write to the Getty Grant Program, Architectural Conservation Grants, 401 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1000, Santa Monica, Calif. 90401.