The American Architectural Foundation (AAF) is pleased to announce that the David and Lucile Packard Foundation has approved a grant in the amount of $250,000 in support of the Mayors' Institute on City Design (MICD). The grant will cover a two-year period and will provide funding for four sessions of the Mayors' Institute. Two sessions will focus on issues in California, and two will draw from regions around the country.

A program of the National Endowment for the Arts, MICD is jointly administered by the AAF and the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Its purpose is to enhance the livability of America's cities through enlightened political leadership. The Institute accomplishes its mission by educating mayors about the impact that design can have on the environmental, social, and economic well-being of their cities. Nearly 500 mayors-more than half of them still in office-have participated in Institute sessions.

A recipient of a Presidential Award for Design Excellence for the year 2000, the Mayors' Institute was cited by the Award jury for its direct impact on cities across America: "It shows mayors how to analyze a project in terms of its long-range impact, both fiscally and visually. Mayors come away from a workshop with greater confidence in their own innate design sense. At the end of the day, the Institute affects how America's cities and towns [are] built by educating the builders."

Copyright 2001 The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved.