Railroad Park — (Nathan Watson / Bham Now)

The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham announced today the grant recipients for this year’s Philip A. Morris Fund for the Design Arts.

Seven Birmingham area nonprofits were awarded grants totaling $214,000.

The fund is named after Philip Morris—a former executive editor of Southern Living magazine — and beloved champion of Birmingham historic preservation and good design as a way to enrich our communities and our lives.

Philip A. Morris Fund 2025 grants

The Morris Fund was established in 2015, two years before he passed away in September 2017, as an endowed Field of Interest Fund at the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham.

He envisioned a fund that could provide resources to support his passion for the design arts and the role that the design arts play in building and enhancing communities.

Below are this year’s recipients:

$25,000 for Alabama Environmental Council for a master plan for relocating the Environmental Center to the Continental Gin. The building will serve as a “nature lab” for environmental health sciences

$20,000 for Design Alabama for the 2026 Philip A. Morris Mayors Design Summit. Funding will underwrite a printed retrospective covering the first 20 years of the Summit as well as a video
$115,000 for McWane Science Center to fund the redesign of the front plaza and lobby. This is for a master plan, including fees for planners, architects, and landscape architects
$15,500 for the Nature Conservancy of Alabama to fund landscape architecture design and signage (viewing box) design for their stormwater mitigation and greenspace project in Irondale across the street from Irondale Community School
$15,500 for Railroad Park Foundation to support events and activities around the 15th anniversary of Railroad Park. Funding will underwrite an expert panel at the documentary film premiere, the film study guide development, as well as the development of an interactive design activity for the community picnic
$12,000 for the Town of Wadley to fund a charette process for a master plan for the town of Wadley. The charette will be led by DesignVision Collaboration and involve students from Auburn’s Urban Studio and Samford’s School of Architecture Graduate Program
$11,000 for Your Town Alabama to fund a keynote speaker and five scholarships

I was a great admirer of Phillip Morris during his time at Southern Living and it is an honor to be a recipient of his fund. This will be a great boost in efforts to create a new environmental center.

Roald Hazelhoff, longtime environmental educator and consultant working on the environmental center at Continental Gin project

Next Morris Fund cycle in 2026

The 2026 grant cycle for the Morris Fund will open for applications in spring 2026. For more information about the Morris Fund or to make a gift, visit www.cfbham.org/philip-morris-fund-design-arts/.

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