July 20 



■ Research The National Museum of Nacural History's 

 Research Initiatives program completed a successful 

 first year with support totaling $325,100 going to pro- 

 jects headed by 35 museum scholars. The five initia- 

 tives — Collections as World Resources; Biodiversity: 

 Systematics, Evolution, and Ecology; Ecosystem History 

 and Global Change; Earth and Planetary Processes; and 

 Human Cultural and Biological Diversity — represent 

 broad research themes to be emphasized at the museum 

 during the next decade. The museum established the 

 new competitive process for directing research funds to 

 encourage innovative projects that explore new ques- 

 tions and integrate various fields of study. 



July 20 



■ Exhibition "Directions — Martin Kippenberger: 

 Works on Paper" opened at the Hirshhorn Museum and 

 Sculpture Garden, featuring more than 50 colorful draw- 

 ings on hotel stationery and collages by this German 

 artist (b. 1954) from the 1980s and 1990s. 



July 21 



■ Television Broadcast The National Portrait Gallery's 

 Hall of Presidents doubled as a television studio when 

 C-SPAN's Washington Journal broadcast a live program 

 on the gallery and its collections. Host Brian Lamb 

 interviewed Director Alan Fern as camera crews pro- 

 vided glimpses of the permanent collection on display. 

 Pretaped segments on the photography collection, the 

 Great Hall, and the Frederick Douglass exhibition were 

 also included. 



July 22 



m Public Program The Anacostia Museum invited the 

 community to a Family Day, offering activities for all 

 ages and a chance to see the exhibition "Black Mosaic: 

 Community, Race, and Ethnicity Among Black Im- 

 migrants in Washington, D.C." Doll making, quilting 

 and mask making workshops, steel drum music, and 

 storytelling were featured. 



July 23 



■ Exhibition opening "Painted Prayers" at the Arthur 

 M. Sackler Gallery celebrated the devotional arr of 

 Hindu women and girls all over India through the vi- 

 brant photographs by writer and art historian Stephen 

 P. Huyler. To further introduce the living tradition of 



painted prayers to gallery visitors, women from the 

 Washington area Indian community gave public paint- 

 ing demonstrations within the exhibition. 



July 24 



■ Public Program The National Pottrait Gallery pre- 

 sented "Blues Woman," a Cultures in Motion perfor- 

 mance of music and life stories of Bessie Smith, Ethel 

 Waters, and Billie Holiday, as interpreted by vocalist 

 Beverly Cosham and narrated by Jewell Robinson. 



August 



■ Publication A profusely illustrated history of the 

 Institution's first century and a half, The Smithsonian: 150 

 Years of Adventure. Discovery, and Wonder, written by- 

 James Conaway, was published by Smithsonian Books 

 and Alfred A. Knopf, who will distribute the book to 

 the retail trade. 



August 



■ Publication Rare Books and Manuscripts in the 

 Smithsonian Institution Libraries, an illustrated review 

 of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries' most valuable 

 collections, was published with support from The Dib- 

 ner Fund. It is available from the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion Press and in the Museum Shops. 



August 



■ Neiv Facility A new ramp adjacent to the Smithso- 

 nian Environmental Research Center boat pier allows 

 easier and safer launching and retrieval of the small 

 boats that the center uses to conduct much of its 

 research on the Chesapeake Bay. 



August 



■ Promotional Initiative InfoTravel, a new interactive 

 multimedia promotional system developed by Bell At- 

 lantic for Washington, D.C. -area hotels, added a feature 

 on the Smithsonian after working with the Visitot Infor- 

 mation and Associates' Reception Center. 



August 



■ Grant The Office of Telecommunications received a 

 S200.000 grant from the National Endowment for the 

 Arts to support its television and radio project, "A 

 River of Song," which explores music along the Missis- 

 sippi River from Minnesota to New- Orleans. 



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