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WMF has extensive publications and resources for both specific projects and general heritage preservation issues. Choose content types and search criteria below.
Featured Media, Articles and Publications
Usumacinta River Cultural Landscape: A Cultural Landscape at Risk
Date: June 2010Type: Video
Related Projects: USUMACINTA RIVER CULTURAL LANDSCAPE
Country: Guatemala
The Usumacinta River defines the border between Guatemala and the Mexican state of Chiapas, but in antiquity its waters lay between the rival Maya cities of Piedras Negras and Yaxchilán. Both capitals flourished during the Late Classic Period (A.D. 600–900) and most of the monumental architecture dates from their climax in the 8th century, including temple pyramids, ball courts, stelae, and magnificent limestone sculptures. The sites also possess carved hieroglyphic reliefs that illuminate the politics and mythology of Maya civilization.
All of the Maya sites in the Usumacinta River Valley are affected by erosion, looting, and overgrowth, and there is constant pressure to use land for grazing. Because of these threats, WMF Watch-listed the landscape and participated in an international coalition to create an overall preservation strategy and management plan that included tourism promotion, visitor protection, and local involvement in addition to individual conservation projects. On the ground, WMF organized training workshops for caretakers and continues to contribute funding and expertise to both sites and to advocate for the preservation of this remarkable cultural landscape.
5 Case Studies: Modernism at Risk (pdf)
Date: February 2010Type: WMF Publication
Keywords: modernism
Related Projects: A. CONGER GOODYEAR HOUSE
Abstract:
The five case studies presented in the Modernism at Risk: Modern Solutions for Saving Modern Landmarks exhibition and this accompanying publication demonstrate that design practitioners and students, armed with their knowledge of 20th-century architecture and their critical thinking and problem-solving skills and supported by organizations like the World Monuments Fund, are helping devise multifaceted solutions—including advocacy efforts, technical plans, and otherwise—that address the distinct challenges to preserving modern architecture.
The buildings presented represent the rise of modernism from its earlydevelopment during the interwar years in Europe (1930 ADGB Trade Union School, Bernau, Germany, by Hannes Meyer and Hans Wittwer) to its appearance in the United States and other countries (1939 A. Conger Goodyear House, Old Westbury, New York by Edward Durell Stone) to its proliferation during America’s postwar boom and later, often in the form of everyday civic buildings (1954 Grosse Pointe Public Library, Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, by Marcel Breuer; 1958 Riverview High School, Riverview, Florida, by Paul Rudolph; and 1972 Kent Memorial Library, Suffield, Connecticut, by Warren Platner.)
The Colossal Head of Amenhotep III, as Discovered
Date: February 2010Type: Photo
Keywords: Egypt
Related Projects: THE MORTUARY TEMPLE OF AMENHOTEP III
Country: Egypt
Archaeologists working at Luxor have unearthed the colossal head of Amenhotep III in the ruins of his mortuary temple in the southern city of Luxor.
Churning of the Sea of Milk: Roof Scaffolding
Date: December 2009Type: Photo
Keywords: Angkor Wat
Related Projects: CHURNING OF THE SEA OF MILK GALLERY ROOF CONSERVATION PROJECT
Country: Cambodia
At Angkor Wat's Churning of the Sea of Milk Gallery, WMF erects scaffolding before work begins to remove the roof.
Cloister of St. Trophime: Laser Cleaning
Date: March 28, 2009Type: Photo
Keywords: laser cleaning
Related Projects: CLOISTER OF ST. TROPHIME
Country: France
Conservator Vivi Pouli conducting small tests at France's Cloister of St. Trophime with UV and IR laser cleaning device.
World Monuments Fund: An Overview
Date: October 2009Type: Video
Keywords: 2010 Watch
Since 1965, World Monuments Fund (WMF) has helped save hundreds of sites in more than 90 countries. Our projects range from mapping ancient cities to conserving modern masterpieces. This 4-minute video provides a snapshot of key WMF projects and our five core programs of advocacy, education and training, cultural legacy, capacity building, and disaster recovery.
Restoring the Dutch Reformed Church
Date: September, 2009Type: Video
Related Projects: DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH
Country: United States
In summer 2009, World Monuments Fund launched a field school program at Newburgh’s Dutch Reformed Church, in partnership with the City of Newburgh, the National Park Service, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newburgh, and the Newburgh Preservation Association. Twelve high school students attended the six-week, hands-on program, learning preservation techniques while making repairs to fire-damaged parts of the church and repairing and restoring windows and exterior architectural details. This 9-minute video documents their experience.
World Monuments Fund 2009 Hadrian Award
Date: October 2009Type: Video
Keywords: Hadrian Award
Country: United States
Every year, the World Monuments Fund gives the Hadrian Award to international leaders who have advanced the preservation of world art and architecture. In 2009, WMF honored David Rockefeller, Jr.
This four-minute video illustrates how Mr. Rockefeller has successfully built upon a family legacy of philanthropy that generates positive social change, principally through the Rockefeller Foundation and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. He has become a force in conservation and cultural heritage through his work with the Alaska Conservation Foundation, the Pew Oceans Commission, the National Parks Foundation, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
World Monuments Fund: The First Thirty Years (pdf)
Date: 1996Type: WMF Publication
Keywords: historic preservation, histories, non profit organizations, restoration
Abstract:
Tracing the origins of World Monuments Fund (WMF) to 1965, this publication explains how James A. Gray, a retired U.S. Army Colonel, created the non-profit, New York-based International Fund for Monuments, the first private organization to focus on the conservation of important buildings, archaeological sites, and works of art on a global scale. Early projects included work at the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, Ethopia, conservation of the statues of Easter Island, and restoration of several important buildings following intense flooding in Venice in 1966. Following Gray’s retirement, Bonnie Burnham took the helm in 1984, at which point the organization was renamed the World Monuments Fund. In addition to new projects in Mexico City and St. Trophime, France, Burnham helped to develop an increasingly close relationship with the Kress Foundation, which sponsored the WMF European Preservation Program in 1987. The late 1980’s also saw the establishment of the Jewish Heritage Program. By the early 1990’s, WMF was expanding its operations abroad through affiliate organizations, using WMF’s name but independently soliciting funds and selecting projects, engaging the social, economic and political elite of a given country to conserve high profile sites according to the highest professional standards. WMF also established the annual Hadrian Award to recognize leadership in the preservation field, as well as the World Monuments Watch Program, compiling a list of one hundred endangered sites every two years. This publication includes a list of major donors as well as a catalogue of projects completed or in progress as of 1995.
Saving our Past: A Race Against Time (pdf)
Date: 1990Type: WMF Publication
Keywords: historic preservation, histories, non profit organizations, restoration
Abstract:
This volume was published to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of World Monuments Fund (WMF), the first private, non-profit organization that sponsoring worldwide preservation activities. It consists of a series of project profiles from the defining WMF projects completed or in progress as of 1990. These profiles include the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista, as well as a series of buildings restored following the Venice floods of 1966; murals in Mexico City following the earthquake of 1985; the Church of St. Trophime in Arles, France; St. Anne’s Church in New York; the Citadelle Henri in Haiti; and the Angkor Temple complex in Cambodia.