As a tribute to Jacobs, the Rockefeller Foundation announced on February 9, 2007 the creation of the Jane Jacobs Medal, “to recognize individuals who have made a significant contribution to thinking about urban design, specifically in New York City.”[7] From the mid 1950s to the mid 1960s, the foundation’s Humanities Division sponsored an “Urban Design Studies” research program, of which Jacobs was the best known grantee.[8]. In September 2007 the Rockefeller Foundation awarded Barry Benepe, co-founder of NYC’s Green Market program and a founding member of Transportation Alternatives, with the inaugural Jane Jacobs Medal for Lifetime Leadership and a $100,000 cash prize. The inaugural Jane Jacobs Medal for new Ideas and Activism was awarded to Omar Freilla, the founder of Green Worker Cooperatives in the South Bronx; Mr. Freilla donated his $100,000 to his organization.
In May 2008, the Rockefeller Foundation announced that Peggy Shepard, executive director of West Harlem Environmental Action, would receive the 2008 Jane Jacobs Medal for Lifetime Leadership and Alexie Torres-Fleming, founder of Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, would receive the award for New Ideas and Activism. Both women will receive their medals and $100,000 awards at a dinner ceremony in September 2008 in New York City.
The City of Toronto proclaimed Friday May 4, 2007 as Jane Jacobs Day in Toronto. Two dozen free walks around and about Toronto neighbourhoods, dubbed “Jane’s Walk”, were held on Saturday May 5, 2007. A Jane’s Walk event was held in New York in on September 29 and 30, 2007 and, for 2008, the event has spread to eight cities and towns across Canada.
She was also famous for her saying, “Eyes on the Street”.
The Municipal Art Society of New York has partnered with the Rockefeller Foundation to host an exhibit focusing on “Jane Jacobs and the Future of New York” which opened at the MAS on September 26, 2007. The exhibit aims to educate the public on her writings and activism and uses tools to encourage new generations to become active in issues involving their own neighborhoods. An accompanying exhibit publication includes essays and articles by such architecture critics, artists, activists and journalists as Malcolm Gladwell, Reverend Billy, Robert Neuwirth, Tom Wolfe, Thomas de Monchaux, and William McDonough. [9] Many of these contributors are participating in a series of panel discussions on “Jane Jacobs and the Future of New York” taking place at venues across the city in Fall, 2007.[10]
No comments:
Post a Comment