Remembering Joan K. Davidson, Member Of Municipal Arts Society BOD, Champion Of Historic Site Preservation, Urban Center Books, Other Causes

Joan Davidson, an extraordinary woman and champion of New York City and New York State died this past Friday. A fearless leader in historic preservation, urban life and plain old liberal causes, Joan was one of the last of those who could rightly be referred to as a grande dame.

Joan was elected to the Municipal Art Society’s Board of Directors in May 1968 and served until 2013. She then served as a Director Emeritus until her death. Her involved, vocal, and spirited support of MAS’s work over more than 55 years was breathtakingly visionary.

But Joan’s support for MAS began in the 1960’s when she persuaded her father who was then president of the J.M. Kaplan Fund to support MAS’s early involvement with the South Street Seaport to develop a plan and to create a beautiful model of what the Seaport could look like.

As president of the J.M. Kaplan Fund beginning in 1977, Joan’s willingness and ability to take chances to make things happen fueled grants from the Fund that supported many MAS projects at that time. Her support as President Emeritus of the Fund never wavered.

Seated left to right: Ralph Menapace, Joan Davidson, Gene Norman, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Brendan Gill. Attending a hearing in Albany in opposition to the Flynn Walsh bill which would have exempted all religious property from the Landmarks Law, February 8, 1984. Image Credit – Jolene Weiss.

Joan threw her support behind a multitude of MAS programs and projects, including the publication of the Juror’s Guide to Lower Manhattan in 1983; the creation of the endowment funds for the Ralph C. Menapace Fellowship in Urban Land Use Law in 1984 and the Brendan Gill Prize in 1986. In recent years she supported MAS’s work in Brownsville and the legal battle around the alienation of the Marx Brothers Playground in Yorkville.

But, perhaps Joan’s most crucial involvement with MAS was around the creation of Urban Center Books, a cornerstone of MAS’s longtime offices in the historic Villard Houses and a treasured center of social gatherings and discovery during MAS’s nearly 30 years at that location.

Her ideas as to what the Fund should support and her no-nonsense attitude about getting things done led to a series of remarkable successes. Of course, the fact that she knew everyone from the Statehouse to City Hall to the head of the smallest nonprofit made her a force to be reckoned with. Her loyal, guiding spirit and gracious style will be missed.

Banner Image: Historic building in NYC. Image Credit – Hans Isaacson

Municipal Arts Society Of New York

The Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS) lifts up the voices of the people in the debates that shape New York’s built environment and leads the way toward a more livable city from sidewalk to skyline. MAS envisions a future in which all New Yorkers share in the richness of city life—where growth is balanced, character endures, and a resilient future is secured. Over more than 125 years of history, our advocacy efforts have led to the creation of the New York City Planning Commission, Public Design Commission, Landmarks Preservation Commission, and the Tribute in Light; the preservation of Grand Central Terminal, the lights of Times Square, and the Garment District; the conservation of more than 50 works of public art; and the founding of such civic organizations as the Public Art Fund, the New York Landmarks Conservancy, P.S. 1, the Historic Districts Council, the Park Avenue Armory Conservancy, and the Waterfront Alliance.