SECRETARY'S REPORT 183 



With funds made available by the A. W. Mellon Educational and 

 Charitable Trust, the air-conditioning system has been extended to 

 cover first-aid rooms, other areas on the ground floor, art storage 

 rooms, and shops. 



With funds made available by Congress a contract has been let for 

 changing the elevator in the west wing of the Gallery building from 

 operator controlled to passenger operated. 



A contract has been let for an experimental electronic installation of 

 a 10-minute tape-recorded Gallery broadcast providing a lecture, re- 

 ceivable on an earphone device, pertaining to the works of art in 

 several gallery rooms. It is proposed to rent the earphone receiving 

 devices at a small fee to persons wishing to hear the lectures in the 

 wired gallery rooms. 



OTHER ACTIVITIES 



Forty Sunday evening concerts were given during the fiscal year 

 in the East Garden Court. The National Gallery Orchestra, con- 

 ducted by Kichard Bales, played 10 concerts at the Gallery. Two of 

 these concerts were made possible by the Music Performance Trust 

 Fund of the American Federation of Musicians. The first eight con- 

 certs of the series were given in commemoration of the Mozart Bi- 

 centennial. A string orchestra under Mr. Bales' direction played 

 during the opening of the Bellows Exhibition on January 19, 1957, 

 and during the Garbisch Exhibition opening on March 15, 1957. The 

 Orchestra was engaged to play a concert at Constitution Hall on 

 February 3 with Mr. Bales conducting. In September 1956 Mr. Bales' 

 cantata "The Union" (premiere at the National Gallery of Art June 

 10, 1956), was recorded at the Gallery by Columbia Kecords. The 

 National Gallery Orchestra and soloists played for the recording. 

 During May 1957, the four Sunday evening concerts were devoted to 

 the Gallery's Fourteenth American Music Festival. All concerts were 

 broadcast in their entirety by Station WGMS AM and FM, 

 Washington. 



The American Institute of Architects commissioned Mr. Bales to 

 compose an orchestral work as part of its Centennial Celebration. 

 This composition, "National Gallery Suite No. 3," was premiered on 

 May 26, 1957. The intermissions during the Sunday evening con- 

 certs featured discussions by members of the Educational Office staff 

 and Mr. Bales. 



During the fiscal year 2,056 copies of nine press releases were issued 

 in connection with Gallery activities. One hundred and fifty permits 

 to copy and 208 permits to photograph in the Gallery were also issued. 



The Photographic Laboratory of the Gallery produced 12,967 

 prints, 242 black-and-white slides, 814 color slides, 1,974 black-and- 



451800—58 13 



