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2012 WMF/Knoll Modernism Prize Presented at Museum of Modern Art
The 2012 World Monuments Fund/Knoll Modernism Prize was presented to the Architectural Consortium for Hizuchi Elementary School at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City on November 13. Six of the seven consortium members attended, and one, Mr. Yoshiaki Hanada, delivered a lecture outlining the restoration project.

WMF's Modernism at Risk initiative received a boost this autumn with the creation of the David Davies & Jack Weeden Fund, an endowment established in memory of Mr. Davies, who passed away earlier this year, by his husband, Mr. Weeden. 
Celebration at Peruvian Church
The community of Andahuaylillas, officials, representatives from WMF, and other supporters celebrated the completion of four years of conservation and restoration work at the Church of San Pedro Apostol on October 31. The seventeenth-century church is often described as the "Sistine Chapel" of the Americas or the Andes for the extraordinary murals covering the interior. The project has been at the center of a community-wide revitalization program led by a youth organization, the Grupo Patrimonio Cultural, which recently won a 2012 Global Vision Award from Travel + Leisure.

San Pedro Apostol is also part of the Andean Baroque Route, a new tourism circuit south of Cusco featuring colonial-era churches that also includes the Church of San Juan Bautista in Huaro and Chapel Virgen de la Candelaria of Canincunca, both of which are WMF projects. A tourism development agreement for the route was signed by WMF Peru's president and representatives from six other institutions in November. 
Work Begins at Balaji Ghat in Varanasi
The first phase of work at Balaji Ghat, an eighteenth-century structure built for Hindu pilgrims on the banks of the Ganges in Varanasi, India, got underway in late October with a ceremony at the structure's temple as well as a Watch Day heritage awareness workshop. Following these events, physical work began. Some 700 tons of debris have been removed from the portion of the structure that has faced two collapses since 1999, and tests are underway to determine which pieces can be reused when the structure is rebuilt. This is the first adaptive reuse project for a ghat in Varanasi. When completed, the structure will be a cultural center for pilgrims and visitors to the Hindu holy city. 
Soane Museum Exhibition
A special exhibition celebrating the work of World Monuments Fund Britain is on view at the Soane Museum in London through January 26. The exhibition features current and past WMF Britain projects, supplemented by documents and drawings from the Soane Museum's permanent collection and objects relating to the sites. WMF Britain Chief Executive Jonathan Foyle shows the highlights of the exhibition in this video tour
Williamsburg High School Gets an A
For the third year in a row, Williamsburg High School for Architecture and Design has been ranked among the top five high schools in New York City based on its overall numerical score. Since 2009, the school has featured a preservation arts curriculum developed by WMF and the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Students learn the basics of historic preservation, design, and architecture in class and take regular field trips to historic sites around New York City. An internship program and fieldwork exposes students to active preservation work. The most recent activity for students is an ongoing cleanup project in the historic Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, which suffered significant damage in Hurricane Sandy.