The TKF Foundation in Annapolis, Maryland, has a mission to support open, sacred spaces—”Every neighborhood needs a Walden Pond in their backyard,” says its web site—and it has $4 million in grants to give to designers and their teams who are planning the right kinds of projects.
The foundation defines an open space as a safe, accessible, inclusive outdoor area, and a sacred place as somewhere that invites wholeness and healing. The Open Spaces Sacred Places National Awards Program has two phases, a planning grant phase (now complete) and an open call for proposals, which is going on now. The trick for landscape architects is you’ll need to assemble a cross-disciplinary team: In addition to conceptualizing, planning, designing, and implementing the space, you’ll need colleagues on board who can conduct research studies and communicate scientific findings.
Don’t worry if you missed the planning grants—teams who secured planning grants are not given any advantage in the National Awards review process. It is probably a good idea, though, to check out the teams who won those grants.
Hurry—you can ask questions between now and June 15, then TKF is accepting submittals from June 15 through June 29 at 3:00 p.m.
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