The Getty Foundation's Conserving Black Modernism initiative is a program dedicated to preserving and celebrating the architectural contributions of African American architects in the Modernist movement across the United States. It was launched in 2022 as part of the National Trust's African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, the largest preservation campaign to support the longevity of African American sites. Established initially as a two-year initiative, it has since expanded to support 26 historic modern sites and is launching its fourth funding cycle this year. The grants are given to support conservation planning, professional training, and storytelling across a diverse array of building types in 17 states and D.C., including academic, spiritual, residential, civic, cultural, and commercial sites of historic importance.
The Action Fund also recently announced support for a total of 27 sites, including five new sites added to the Conserving Black Modernism program. This year, the Getty Foundation's grants include buildings in five different states: an urban park and transit route bridging historically Black neighbourhoods in Boston; a distinctive geometric church design suggesting the shape of two hands interlocked in prayer in East Chicago; a glass modernist educational building by the oldest Black-owned architecture firm in the US, in Nashville; a distinctive cylindrical building honouring Dr Martin Luther King Jr in Houston; and the first Black-owned, designed and operated shopping centre in Milwaukee.
The grants are intended for both building maintenance and fostering community engagement in places of collective significance. The Conserving Black Modernism program not only highlights architectural works but also raises public awareness of the Black architects and designers who contributed to the Modernist architecture movement. Find below the five new buildings added to the programme this year. The details of each project and the destination of the funds were provided by the Getty Foundation.
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From Aalto Works to Tashkent Modernism: Discover the 19 New Cultural Sites Added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2026Southwest Corridor / Stull & Lee, Inc.
Boston, Massachusetts, 1969-1987
The Southwest Corridor Project, including the Metro Boston Transit Authority (MBTA)'s Ruggles Station, was built on land initially cleared for the 1-95 Southwest Expressway. After community activism cancelled the highway's construction in 1969, Black-led architecture firm Stull & Lee, Inc. led the planning for the extension of MBTA's Orange Line and a 52-acre park along its route. The Southwest Corridor Project prioritized community participation and included recreational facilities, community gardens, and paths connecting to other Boston park systems. Ruggles Station opened in 1987 with an iconic barrel vault with sunburst windows and cast-in-place concrete featuring art by local artists. Getty funding will support a historical documentation study of significant Stull and Lee projects along the Southwest Corridor through archival research, photography, 3D modeling, and engagement with architect M. David Lee to preserve knowledge about their design and cultural history.
St. Mark AME Zion Church / Wendell Campbell
East Chicago, Indiana, 1973
Completed in 1973, St. Mark AME Zion Church was designed to evoke interlocked praying hands with a multi-planed triangular roof and ribbon windows. Designed by Wendell Campbell, a co-founder and the first president of the National Organization of Minority Architects, the church is an example of modernist and neo-expressionist religious architecture. Getty funding will support a conservation management plan to document existing conditions, establish preservation priorities, and guide the future rehabilitation of the site.
Park-Johnson Hall at Fisk University / McKissack & McKissack
Nashville, Tennessee, 1954
Park-Johnson Hall, located in the Fisk University Historic District and built in 1954, is a three-story brick and glass modernist building, housing classrooms, a lecture hall and offices designed by Moses McKissack III and his firm, McKissack & McKissack, the oldest Black-owned architecture firm in the U.S. Getty funding will support a comprehensive conservation and management plan for the site, including documentation that situates the building within the broader portfolio of McKissack & McKissack's architectural contributions to Fisk University's campus.
Martin Luther King Jr. Humanities Center, Texas Southern University / John Saunders Chase Jr.
Houston, Texas, 1969
Designed by John Saunders Chase Jr. and completed in 1969, the Martin Luther King Jr. Humanities Center is the long-standing home of Texas Southern University's School of Communications. Chase, Jr. was the first licensed Black architect in Texas, a founding member of the National Organization of Minority Architects, and the first African American to serve on the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts. The building was constructed in 1969 and dedicated shortly after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It features a distinctive cylindrical form with extended wings, which are thought to symbolize Dr. King's legacy and enduring influence. Getty funding will support a historic structures report documenting the building's historical significance, existing conditions, and preservation priorities.
Central City Plaza / Alonzo Robinson Jr.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1973
Completed in 1973, Central City Plaza was designed by Wisconsin's first licensed Black architect Alonzo Robinson Jr. and is the first Black-owned, designed and operated shopping center in Milwaukee. The complex is one of few examples of the New Formalist style in Milwaukee, consisting of three separate buildings with arched porticos, fluted concrete panels and arcaded storefronts. The Salvation Army leased and acquired title to one of the structures, a former motel, in 1983 and utilizes the space for humanitarian work, including 24/7 emergency housing, meals and services. Getty funding will support a historic structures report and related studies will guide the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of the site, expanding its shelter and support services.
A wide range of modern architectural works was recently included in UNESCO's latest inscriptions, including ten buildings and urban ensembles built between the 1960s and the early 1990s during the reconstruction of Tashkent following the 1966 earthquake, and a selection of 13 buildings in Finland designed between 1920 and 1980 by Alvar Aalto, Aino Marsio-Aalto, Elissa Aalto and the Aalto studio. In the United States, Dallas City Hall has for months been weighing the demolition of the building designed by I.M. Pei & Partners against the need for costly repairs. In Chile, the Sociedad Chilena de Autores e Intérpretes (SCD) recently undertook the restoration of the iconic Teatro Mauri building in Valparaíso, reopening its doors to the public this past June.
