A $600,000 Humanities in Place grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation will help bolster Paul Revere Williams’ archive at his alma mater, the University of Southern California. The trove of important documents that had for a long time mired unattended in storage in Los Angeles was since recovered thanks to the efforts of USC faculty members (incl. former School of Architecture Dean Milton S.F. Curry) and Williams’ granddaughter.
Curry will join fellow USC faculty Valéry Augustin and Amy L. Murphy in leading the administration of the public-facing grant. Activities to be funded reportedly include future exhibitions at the USC Fisher Museum, two faculty research fellowships, a biennial publication, an annual memorial lecture series, a symposium, and other community events.
Now housed at the Getty Center, the archive, which was jointly acquired by USC and the Getty Research Institute in 2020, includes: "Over 37,000 plans, including 10,000 drawings, blueprints, project diazo types, hand-colored renderings, vintage photographs, written correspondence, and other materials comprising Williams’ entire professional career."
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Paul R Williams doesn't get enough credit as an Atomic Age architect -- along with Charles/Ray Eames, Eero Saarinen as big three of that era. His design is perfect at the Neon Museum in Las Vegas. Of course the Mellon is supporting this for other reasons -- mostly DEI. Perhaps one day designers can escape the shallow discourse.
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