New Getty fund to assist arts institutions hit by Katrina

The Getty Foundation has launched a $2-million initiative to assist New Orleans visual arts institutions in their recovery from Hurricane Katrina.

The Getty Foundation’s Fund for New Orleans -- to be announced today in New Orleans by officials of the Getty Foundation, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the city -- will allow nonprofit arts organizations to apply for financial support of two types: conservation grants, to be applied toward preserving art collections, archives, historic buildings and landscapes, and transitional planning grants, for “longer-term organizational effectiveness and realization of an organization’s mission.”

To qualify for a conservation grant, buildings or landscapes must have a local, state or national listing of historic significance.

The Getty Foundation also said Getty staff members would be available to lend their expertise to selected projects.

Although the grants from this fund are designed to provide concentrated assistance to New Orleans, the foundation indicated it may also make available funds for storm-affected visual arts organizations in outlying regions.

In the immediate aftermath of Katrina, the Getty Foundation funded the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s recovery efforts, covering expenses to send volunteer teams of architects, conservators and engineers to Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi to assess the damage.

-- Diane Haithman